Saturday, July 16, 2011

A Box Full of Sweets

I currently sit in Odum Library, surrounded by 60 fellow students. We attend a government-funded summer institution by the name of the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. Six hundred ninety-five students study both a major and a minor for a month while living at Valdosta State University.

Last Monday I found myself waiting outside of my journalism class with 15 minutes of spare time on my hands. Suddenly, my friend bounded to the door carrying a huge box.

His mom sent him a care package.

Grinning from ear to ear, he tore open the package, admiring his new-found treasures. The bundle contained box upon box of oatmeal cream pies, honey buns and various sweets, but more importantly, his camera.

“My mom loves me!” he exclaimed.

Whoa--your mom loves you?

This caused me to stop and think about our definition of love. In our day and age, love is money. Love is a care package or a physical symbol of affection. But is this accurate? Does God measure our love by our gifts or our actions? Do we measure God’s love by His miracles or the gifts He gives us?

In “the love chapter” (1 Corinthians 13), Paul describes the meaning of love. He explains that if “I bestow all my goods to feed [the poor] and…give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3, NJKV). When we love someone, we admire them as a person and an individual, not their wealth, knowledge or appearance. This means that love will continue despite varying circumstances.

As a result of this pure affection, we may choose to shower our loved one with gifts. This simply indicates our fondness of the other person. If two people share pure love, neither a lack nor an excess of gifts will affect the amount of care between them.

Romans 5:8 states, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NKJV). God has shown us His constant love. The question is:

How will we measure it?