He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. An he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross....We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. (Col 1:15-20,28).Life is all about our relationships; first of all with God, and then with each other and everyone else we meet. We must know the basis for our relationships in order to understand how we should relate to God and to each other. The first few chapters of Rick Warren's book "The Purpose Driven Life" provide a good summary; here are the main points:It all starts with God - "Everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him." (Col 1:16) Without God, life makes no sense.You are not an accident - "I am your creator, you were in my care even before you were born." (Is 44:2) God never does anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes.What drives your life? - Guilt? Resentment? Anger? Fear? Materialism? Need for approval? "You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you." (Is 26:3)We are made to last forever - "This world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever. (I John 2:17)Seeing life from God's view - "What is your life?" (James 4:14) A circus? A minefield? A roller coaster? A puzzle? A symphony? A journey? A dance? A carousel? A party? A race? A marathon? A battle? A game? Life is a test, a trust and a temporary assignment. "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones." (Luke 16:10)So if our life on earth is only temporary and is a preparation for eternity - and scripture calls it a test - How is our life to be graded?Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent (John 17:3).God is love (1 John 4:16).‘Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind', and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself' (Luke 10:27).Who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29).And now I will show you the most excellent way (1 Cor. 12:31).Life is all about knowing God, experiencing his love through our relationships with others. We can't experience God's love without knowing God. We can't know God without sharing his love to everyone around us (everyone we meet is a neighbor). God knew we are incapable of experiencing and sharing his love without help, so he came in the body of Jesus to show us how to experience and share his love - and to have eternal life.1 Cor 13 is an excellent description of what God's love is. Love must have an object to be expressed. God demonstrated his love for us by coming in the body of Jesus and sacrificing his life on the cross. Jesus' life was a demonstration of God's love, and we can see every attribute of love described in 1 Cor 13 manifested in the life of Christ. Love is not an abstract concept, it is the nature of God himself. We should model our relationships with others on how Jesus demonstrated throughout his life. 1 Cor 13 describes the nature of Godly relationships:Love is:1. Patient - keeping a good disposition even when others are demanding and we have other things to do.2. Kind - Affectionate, gentle, considerate - helping when you don't need to, when the other person cannot return the favor.3. Does not envy - We can rejoice when someone else is blessed without feeling like we deserved it more than they.4. Does not boast - When we call attention to ourselves, we are claiming credit for what we should acknowledge as God's grace and mercy.5. Not proud - Pride is self-righteousness - pride is setting ourselves above others.6. Not rude - When we are condescending, offensive or discourteous, we are saying "I don't need to talk with you - you aren't worthy of my attention!"7. Not self-seeking - When our motive is "what's in it for me?" we are placing the other's welfare second to our own wants.8. Not easily angered - It is possible to be angry and manifest God's love (Jesus & the moneychangers) but if we are easily angered, we are selfishly wanting everything our own way and reacting badly when we don't get what we want.Love:9. Keeps no record of wrongs - God has forgiven us of every sin we've confessed to him - how can we not forgive others?10. Does not delight in evil - People will often cause harm to others to accomplish some goal ("corporate ladder"), and in the process deceive others to hide their actions. Love has no part in this.11. Rejoices with the truth - When we have nothing to hide, we can be totally open with others - it is then we can rejoice with the truth.12. Always protects - Love quenches the darts of the enemy. When we hear of accusations against a brother or sister, our response should be to protect, i.e. "I don't think we have all the information to judge this situation."13. Always trusts - Love isn't suspicious, love has faith in others, even when they've let us down before. Jesus said to forgive "seventy times seven" times.14. Always hopes - Love always believes for the best, even when we've not experienced the "best" many times before.15. Always perseveres - Love withstands adversity. Love doesn't give up - ever.16. Never fails - We aren't guaranteed happy endings. John the Baptist was beheaded, Jesus was crucified, most of the apostles were martyred. But, God is eternal, God is love, so there is no end to God's love. God's love will carry us through any situation, even when we don't like the outcome.God came to us in the body of Jesus to show us how to experience and manifest his love and have a relationship with himself. We can't do it without God. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can learn to experience and manifest God's love just like Jesus did.Love is the core of having Godly relationships, both with our heavenly Father and with everyone we meet (our neighbors).Prayer:Lord Jesus, help me to follow your example and share God's love with each person I meet today. Help me to love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength-and help me to show your love to each person I contact today.Amen. catcmo2006
