Rooted and Grounded
By Caron Cline
Burke County
February has long been celebrated as the month of love for couples worldwide. According to Eat Out Eat Well, $448 million is spent on candy during the season of Valentine’s Day. 250 million roses are also produced for this special day in the US alone. Thousands upon thousands of songs have been written to express a feeling that must be love. Clearly, love is the universal language. Webster defines love as “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties; attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers”. Sadly, millions of people who once expressed deep love for a friend or spouse suddenly realized this was no longer the case. Those wonderful and euphoric feelings had gradually been replaced by feelings of apathy, boredom, and sometimes deep resentment.
The foundation of our relationships cannot be built on the shifting sand of that which our world defines as love. The secular world pursues only the fleshly aspect of love, one which fulfills the selfish desires of another. When one individual no longer validates another’s feelings there is no reason to continue the relationship. These feelings of love were once quite real but were based solely on the temporal and therefore lacked a solid foundation. Regardless of how often love has come and gone, the average person never tires of the search for more. The problem arises when the foundation for the next relationship is poured with the same weak ingredients. The first step to success in relationships is to accept the original Lover’s definition. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”.
We must also build on this foundation; selflessness. On the surface, this appears to be an impossible task and definitely one that will require supernatural intervention. Before the foundation of the world, this complex issue was resolved. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”. These words confirm our understanding of God’s definition of love which is based on self-sacrifice. Jesus was also willing to empty Himself of His divine glory and His position of authority to enter time and space. The Creator of the Universe, Who spoke everything into being, humbled Himself and became a helpless baby who could not even speak a word. That is love. At the age of 30, Jesus began a public ministry, preaching about the kingdom of God, casting out demons, and healing the sick. He expressed the heart and the love of God through His compassion. Then He expressed the final and greatest act of love as He died for the sins of the whole world on the cross. The sacrifice and selflessness of Jesus is the necessary foundation for eternal life. Only as we receive His death, burial, and resurrection in exchange for our sin are we empowered to love others with a sacrificial love. Romans 5:5 says, “…because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us”. After receiving Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit indwells us, and with Him comes the selfless, sacrificial, and immeasurable love of God. Paul offers even greater news in his letter to the Ephesians. Chapter 3, verses 16-19 says, “…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God”.
Notice the phrase, ‘with all the saints’, a principle that teaches the necessity of assembling and fellowshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ. Only as we come together as one, will we comprehend and experience this boundless love of God. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the very fullness of God is poured into our hearts, flowing forth to reveal Jesus to a world tainted by a false understanding of love; a love that is often short-lived and insincere, based on circumstances and emotions. Our love is secure, for He is anchored beyond the veil of this world, seated at the right hand of God. From this moment and throughout eternity, His love will never fail!
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Caron is a follower of Jesus Christ and a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Morganton, NC. She loves to teach the word of God.
Her desire is to see every believer grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. Read more good Christian news from Caron HERE.
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