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Most of us know instinctively, that if we love someone for what they can do for us, it's not really love. It's more of a self-centered neediness, really; a selfish "love." In First Corinthians, Paul tells us that love is not selfish.

But the writer of Psalm 116 seems to have missed that bulletin. He says he loves the Lord, because the Lord has heard him, and has heard his "supplications," his "cry for mercy" as some translations put it.

That got me thinking a bit about the nature of our relationship with God, (or with anyone else for that matter). Who among us can really say we love unselfishly? I guess I have to admit that though I aspire to that, I'm not very good at it.

Other scripture says we love, because he first loved us. I think that's the truth of the matter, really. In our frail, less-than-perfect state, we love mostly as a response.

So how important, then, must it be for us to share God's love with the world. We have to really take it seriously.

If the world is to love God, then they have to know that God loves them, first. We have to make every effort to model God's love. We've got to show the world not the angry, judgemental, and stingy stereotype Christians are known for, but the reckless love that Jesus showed. We've got to be willing to give the shirts off our backs! We've got to go the extra mile! We need to let those without sin throw the first stone (in other words, no one!) We've got to be willing to put the weak first and the rich last! We need to be ready to give our very lives for love!

Who's with me? Who's ready to join God in reckless love!

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Psalm 116:1, 10-17

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.
10 I kept my faith, even when I said,
‘I am greatly afflicted’;
11 I said in my consternation,
‘Everyone is a liar.’
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord,
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving-maid.
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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