When I was a kid my parents and I used to watch a comedy-variety show that had a segment on it called, “Kids Say The Darndest Things” (In the late 90’s CBS turned this concept into a series hosted by Bill Cosby).  Basically, the host would ask kids questions on various subjects and the responses would always be hilarious. One time the host asked some kids what they thought about the subject of “love.”  Here are some responses:

One kid who had apparently witnessed the marital struggles of his parents said, “Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way.”

“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.”

“Love is what makes you smile at each other – even when you’re tired.”

One little girl said, “Love is when mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure that the taste is OK.”

A little boy said, “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you don’t like to play with.”

One observant little girl said, “Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday.”

“Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.”

In Colossians 3:13-15, the Apostle Paul says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

 

Notice the phrase: “Put on love.”  Paul describes this act as if we are putting on several garments and he says that the ‘overcoat’ that needs to cover the other attributes should be love. But what does it mean to put on love? If love is the last thing you put on before you go out the door – the one thing your ‘life-outfit’ would be incomplete without – what does that look like and how do we do it? I think to answer that we need to understand what ‘love’ means here.  The ‘love’ Paul is talking about is the ‘agape love,’ which basically means it must be an unconditional love.

If agape love is unconditional and the reverse of the way that conditional forms of love work, then agape love isn’t an ‘if/then’ type of love or a ‘because of’ kind of love, rather, it’s an ‘in spite of’ kind of love! Agape love chooses to love in the face of betrayal, in the face of rejection and in the face of evasion.  In other words, agape love is an unprovoked love.

 

Think of it this way: We read of unprovoked violence and aggression all the time.  We hear things on the news like: “There was a John Doe minding his own business at the bus stop who was beaten and robbed for no apparent reason.”  Many have had acts of aggression forced upon them that were unprovoked.  I suggest if we’re fully ‘dressed’ and prepared for our day and wearing agape love as our most outer garment, we should be demonstrating some unprovoked acts of love. How about a news report that sounds like this: “There was a John Doe minding his own business at the bus stop when a man approached him and in spite of the fact that Mr. Doe was a grumpy selfish person who never gave a dime to charity – out of the blue this unknown man blessed him with enough money to ride the bus for the rest of the month!”

Agape love seeks those who never saw it coming and even those who never had it coming. It shows up unannounced, unexpected, and completely undeserved. It isn’t predicated on our beauty, our popularity, our intelligence or our worthiness. It is a love that pursues. This is the way that God loves us. His love for us is indeed undeserved and unprovoked. Let’s put on this unprovoked love and endeavor to give it away as we go through our everyday life. 

 

 

Pastor Jeff

pastorjeff@lwwconline.com

 

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