What Kind of Love

What Kind of Love?

Hope - Week One - Thursday

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

I Corinthians 13:4-7

Shortly after my Papaw died my Mamaw called me and asked me to come visit with her for a few days and help her go through some of Papaw’s things. I agreed to come in the next few days and after making arrangements at home drove to Louisville, Kentucky to the home my grandparents had shared for many years. I was eager to help Mamaw, who was legally blind from macular degeneration, but also knew that it was a difficult task that was before us and was dreading the resurfacing of all the emotions I had tried to tuck away since the funeral. The house felt quiet and I was missing the infectious laugh of my Papaw and the mischief that always twinkled about the corners of his eyes. Mamaw brought me out of my thoughts with a box. She sat down next to me on the couch and told me that she had something she wanted me to do that would be difficult to do but she wanted me to promise I would really do it. Of course I promised. I would have promised her anything at that moment. Her look was solemn and resolute. At that moment I would have promised her anything. Then she opened the box which was filled to the brim with greeting cards, all of them from my Papaw. I was thankful that Mamaw did not have a clear view of the tears that immediately sprang to my eyes. Mamaw asked me read each card to her and then throw them away because she could no longer really read them and they were deeply personal. She wanted to hear their precious words one more time and then throw them away so that they would not be handled and read and reread.

That night I read card after card to my Mamaw. I wondered if the tears streaming down my face were evident in my voice. The cards were funny, poignant, serious, romantic….It was a beautiful display of my Papaw’s love for my Mamaw. As I read each card, Mamaw would tell me the story behind that particular one. I watched her face as she relived the moments in each of them. Then I pulled out a small card from near the bottom. I read the card and then read the words he had penned at the end, “You are all I really need”. Mamaw was quiet a moment and then said, “Your Papaw gave me that card the day after our house burned to the ground and we lost everything.” I thought of a life of building a home together, of working hard and buying the things they needed and then losing it all but your family and saying, “I have all I really need”. What kind of love is that?

As we look at the verses penned by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 13, verse seven, “hopeth all things” when interpreted from the Greek could be worded this way,

“…love never quits, never surrenders, and never gives up”.

This is the kind of love that anticipates the best in others and for others. It is an agape love that says, “I am in this for the long haul and no matter what I refuse to give up. I am staying put and I refuse to move!” This is a tenacious, I don’t even know how to surrender, I am doing what God wants me to do and I refuse to let go kind of love. This love sometimes calls us to wait…to hold on...to anticipate that the best is yet to come. It is a love that when everything seems to be a pile of ashes you can nestle in close to God and say, “I have everything I really need. I am not letting go. I am going to hold on and see what You have for me.”



This is a year when many have experienced loss and while they might not be looking at a house burned to the ground, they may well be looking at a bank account that is mostly empty and a pile of bills that is mostly unpaid. We have the opportunity to share God’s love in ways we never imagined this year. Think of that person who you have given up on…a son, a daughter…a friend…a loved one. Find your opportunity to show them agape love this Christmas season. It might be a card. It might be in the way of financial help. It might be inviting them to share a special day. And in the doing of it, you might just find that you are the one most richly blessed!

Discussion Question

God is so powerful and can do things in any way He chooses. Why do you think He so often chooses to reach out to people using personal relationships? If He can give you what you need, why does He so often take care of your needs through the hands of others? What relationships do you have now that He might want to use to meet the needs of others?

Family Activity

Prepare a Christmas party to go for someone who is homebound. Take plates and cups, refreshments, and other items to celebrate the holiday. Pack it up in a basket and go share with that person. For younger children you could take a game or craft. For adults you could take a jigsaw puzzle or movie. Spend time being with them at this time of year when they might really be longing for some company.