What is it about the sound of waterfalls that is so relaxing? I found this one in a mountain stream. We have a small waterfall circulating water through the fish pond right outside our living room window. You can even buy smaller ones as indoor decorative water features. I must admit though that the sound of Niagara Falls is not exactly relaxing…more awe-inspiring in all of its power!
Water itself is a powerful force. Just think of the Colorado River cutting out the Grand Canyon. Water can wear away at rocks as well as push turbines. People get electricity from hydroelectric plants all over the world (check out http://globalenergyobservatory.org/list.php?db=PowerPlants&type=Hydro if you really want to know how many there are and where they’re located). Wearing down rocks takes a lot more time than pushing a large turbine, though.
Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love… (1 Timothy 4:12).
What does love have to do with rushing water? Love can be a powerful force, as well. I’m not talking about romantic love, I’m talking about the love of God and the love He wants us to have for others.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
This is a lofty goal, to be sure, even with those we care deeply about! But Jesus went beyond that.
Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked (Luke 6:35).
The love of God flowing through His children, practiced truthfully and consistently, can wear down the defenses of those who are against us. I know that if I’m angry with someone (there’s my first mistake…that’s not loving!) and I speak to them about it (usually my second mistake…my words and voice are not kind either), my anger quickly dissipates if they respond gently to me. “A gentle answer deflects anger” (Proverbs 15:1). If that’s true on the small scale of a single conversation, imagine what could happen if we practiced love all day with everyone we come across, whether friend or foe!
True godly love requires looking outward toward others instead of focusing inwardly on what we want for ourselves, or on what we think we deserve, or what we think we have a right to. “Love does not demand its own way.”
Our character should reflect the character of our heavenly Father, who gave His Son so that we could have a forever relationship with Him. He gave, and so should we.
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love–not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other (1 John 4:7-11).
Today, look out! Ask God to show you how to love with His love.
Lauri Hawley 