The Love Challenge

Introduction

“Love never fails.” (1 Corinthians 13:8a)

John Lennon wrote a song “Love is All We Need.” In it, the word “love” is sung over and over. For many generations, the melody of that song is instantly recognizable as one of the signature recordings of the Beatles.

The truth is love songs and love stories are irresistible. Love is irresistible. We need love. We crave love. We give and receive love. And when genuine love eludes us, too often we can manufacture vestiges of the real thing. But there is no substitute for true love in its many forms. Love is both feeling and action. It’s attitude and behavior. It’s affection and affectations. Love transcends simple definitions but at its heart, it is a simple matter.

Oh, and God is love. God loves — gives and receives love. But at the core of the identity of the divine, in the Christian faith, we recognize God as the source of all love, as the manifestation of love, and as the essence of love. But even more than that, God is love. God embodies love. God’s character is love. And love, yes, my friends, is all we need.

This love creates us so that we would be loved and loving. This love shaped us in the image of love and formed us into communities in which to love and be loved. This love affirms our worth, beauty, and dignity. This love pursues us, meets us in all manner of places and states, and calls us its own. This love is powerful, mighty, and liberating. This love says you are enough; in fact, you are worth dying for.