February: Love
Resolution: I choose to love God with my whole being and my neighbor as myself, especially my enemy.
Love is a word carelessly thrown around to a point where it is becoming cliché́ for many of us. This time of year, we naturally ponder love due to Valentine’s Day, which has become a day dedicated to erotic, sensual, romantic, and “butterflies in my gut” love. In the Christian faith, however, love looks quite different. Love is acting toward someone in a particular way that seeks their good.
We get the pleasure of reflecting on love during two seasons of the church year: Epiphany and Lent. Epiphany reveals God love for all peoples and wants all to see that He is the light and truth. He desires all to have an epiphany of revelation that He is God. The season of Lent also reflects the nature of a self-sacrificial love as demonstrated by Jesus’ life. Humbling Himself by becoming human, the eternal Son of God lived, taught, healed, died, and rose again, all for the sake of you and me. In the words of 1 John 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
The radical nature of our faith is that love does not just go to our family and friends. Love extends even – or especially – to our enemies. The people that hate us, that drive us crazy, that speak bad about us, that prevent us from getting what we want.... they are all images of God for whom our Savior commands us to seek good. No exceptions. As we go throughout our days, may we be people who choose to love God, our neighbors, and especially our enemies as ourselves. In so doing, may we be imitators of our Lord who continue the work of planting signposts to the new creation.
February: Liturgy
Leader: Father, we may fail often, but it is our desire to truly love You with our whole being including our heart, mind, and soul.
People: Father, help us love You above all else in our life.
Leader: Jesus, we know that in order to love anyone else, it is important that we love ourselves. We thank You for the way You made us. We are grateful for our individual strengths, gifts, and uniqueness. We recognize that we are fearfully and wonderfully made in Your image.
People: Jesus, open our eyes to see ourselves as You see us.
Leader: Spirit, give us eyes to see our neighbors as we interact with people every day. Help us be people who are highly aware of the needs of those around us. May we be a people who care about others in both word and deed.
People: Spirit, make us aware of the needs of those close to us.
Leader: In our society, there are many people that we deeply disagree with. Help us especially learn to love these people. This is the type of love that should be unique among Christ followers.
People: Eternal God, increase our love for our enemy.