Real Love

Ok, so I was getting ready for class tonight when once again it seems God decided to speak to me. This week has been a little tough. My parents, who are divorced, had started seeing each other again after 40 years. They were talking for about 3 weeks. Nothing serious, just kind of being friends. It didn't work for them the first time because they both said they didn't know how to really love.
So I start thinking about what is love. Well I love certain tv shows. I mean, I will even go so far as to make sure they are recorded on my DVR so I won't miss them. I also love food. I love writing. There are many things I would say I love. So is this what love is or is there something deeper? Well love as explained in the Bible is willing to lay your life down. Put this way, I need to rethink how I use the word love and what it means.
Love as defined in the Bible is different. Loving others more than myself, loving my neighbor, loving the unlovable. I don't know very many people who love this way. Ask yourself if you were driving down the street and saw a homeless person, would you stop and offer them help? Would you stop and help a person broke down on the side of the road even if you had to be somewhere at a certain time? How about if you saw someone hurting someone else, would you call for help, stop and get in the middle, or just keep driving because you wouldn't want to get involved. Today people choose to turn the other way and pretend they don't see what is going on.
I am guilty. When I see homeless people begging, I tend to think to myself, "they could get a job." I don't even know their circumstances but boy am I ready to sit as judge and jury. How about love? Would I stop and help them? God has said we are no better than them. We are no different, and His Son died for them just as He did for me. He also calls us to love them. I don't want to in my human nature but when I let God work through me, I am able to have compassion enough to do it. The way I see them, God has seen me. My sin makes me look unlovable. I am dressed in rags, dirty and sitting there begging. But God has washed me clean as snow, not the kind you find in a big city, but the kind you would find in the country. Fresh, clean, white snow.
What a merciful God. If he can feel that way towards me, the least I can do is feel that way towards others. Its another matter of "the cover of the book" syndrome.I am still working on it and I am praying daily God can cure me, which I know He can. Thank you merciful God for all you have forgiven me of. For given me the ability to see past the cover and to love.