A Bible verse about love:
“Oh Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.” – Psalm 130:7
I’m currently reading The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. It’s something of a daily devotional that’s meant to help us discover our purpose in life. The premise is that one of the reasons many people feel so unfulfilled is that they don’t fulfill their actual purpose in life. Since God doesn’t speak to us directly, it’s difficult to understand what our actual purpose is.
Today’s reading was all about love. So it’s no coincidence that today’s verse is also about love. I did not plan that.
Jesus summarizes the two most important commandments: Love God with all of your heart all of your soul and all of your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. All of the other commandments are built off of these two fundamental principles.
The point of the reading today was to emphasize that the strongest way to demonstrate your love is by use of your time. How you spend your time indicates what you prioritize in life.
This is vitally important for demonstrating love and appreciation in your relationships, and that includes your relationship with God too.
Let’s break down this verse a little bit into manageable bite-size pieces.
Put your hope in the Lord.
Hope is a feeling or desire for a certain thing to happen. In this circumstance, we are hoping for that in which God has promised us.
Do not hope for things of this world; they are merely fleeting compared to the ephemeral promises that God offers.
We hope for good health, good finances, and good fortune. While those are nice things, they are not eternal.
I hope that the Vikings win today, but clearly that is nonessential.
While it’s ok to hope for earthly things in the fact that God wants us to achieve our dreams, and He wants us to have happy and fulfilled lives, the point is that our ultimate hope should reside in Him.
For with the Lord is unfailing love
Otherwise known as unconditional love. I submit that unconditional love is truly unattainable for most humans. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive for it.
By merely seeking unconditional love, chances are that your expression of love will be enhanced dramatically.
I wrote a book about Koda’s life and the grief that I experienced after her passing. And this principle of unconditional love was revealed to me as I wrote the book.
That love that I still feel for her is how I should be loving every single person that comes into my life, regardless of the situation, no matter what they might have done to me, and in spite of how fleeting our encounter is.
Every single person I am to love in the same depth and manner as I love Koda.
That being said, I fail miserably. Even with the people that I am surrounded by on a daily basis.
I get irritated with my coworkers. I don’t prioritize spending time with my family and friends. Certainly, I can be obnoxiously stubborn with my wife. I don’t give my daughter undivided attention.
I am a failure in this regard, though it’s not for a lack of trying. The point is to keep reaching, and to keep striving because I have, and will continue to, make improvements.
The book Atomic Habits by James Clear emphasizes this point. The premise of the book is that continual, incremental gains lead to more consistent returns than expectations of monumental growth.
With Him is full redemption
Redemption; otherwise known as forgiveness of sin. It is a continual gift that is free for the taking – with two stipulations.
First, we must believe in Jesus. That’s simple enough.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
No argument there, right?
However, belief is not enough. We have to ask for forgiveness in order to be cleansed.
I think that the mere act of asking demonstrates the fact that you believe, albeit in limited scope.
Recap
We could simply paraphrase this verse into something more modern like this:
“People, because you believe in Jesus and ask for forgiveness, and because God loves you unconditionally, we can have hope in God that He will provide that which He has promised us”
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