WORD OF THE WEEK

WHAT do you love? “I love rum and raisin ice cream.” “I love dark chocolatecoated ginger biscuits.” “I love going to see Derby County play.” (controversial, that one?)

“I love lying on a beach in the sun.” “I love climbing mountains.” “I love taking the kids to the park.”

OK, so who do you love? “I love my husband/wife/partner/girlfriend/ boyfriend.” “I love my Mum and Dad.” “I love my Grandma.” “I love my sister.” (most of the time.) “I love my old school teacher.” “I love my friends.”

The trouble is that loving something or someone isn’t always plain sailing! What if the shops run out of rum and raisin ice cream? What a disappointment!

What if your husband says he’s going to a football match and you’d been planning a nice afternoon out together? What do you say?

What if you’d arranged to go away for a few days and your son is ill and needs to be looked after? How do you deal with that?

What happens if your girlfriend cheats on you? Can you forgive her?

People say love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts, rejection hurts, disappointment hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Acting unselfishly hurts.

Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt.

We cannot simply do the best thing for ourselves all the time, because sometimes the best for me will not be the best for you, whom I love.

Love teaches us to put first the needs of the one we love, to limit our behaviour for the sake of the other person.

Probably the best-known verse in the Bible says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son (Jesus) so that all who believe in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God loved and loves us so much that he gave everything he had to save us from the consequences of the wrong things we do.

In return, he expects us to show our love for him by loving and serving others – even when it’s difficult, inconvenient or painful for us.

Don’t let anyone tell you that faith in Jesus is a crutch, a soft option, a cop-out!