What does everybody want?

As I have traveled, I have noticed that no matter where you go, everybody wants the same thing.  The interesting thing is that God seems to desire it as well.  No matter if you are rich, poor, a priest, a businessman, a murderer or a terrorist, you want this.  Do you know what it is?  It is LOVE!

What I mean by ‘traveled’ is that you can meet people from all different cultures and, if you show compassion and genuine care, people seem to accept love no matter the circumstances.  However, some people have built up such a wall of protection that if you show them love it just doesn’t seem to get through.  You have to wonder about people who will not let love in.  I do not really wonder about that person as much as what people have done to them or what they have lived through.

Please know that when I say love, I am not talking about the perversion that some people think love is such as things like sex, porn, or taking from someone.  What I am talking about is what true love is.  Do you know what it is?  The Bible defines it as:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, 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.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)

So when someone ask Jesus what was the most important commandment of all he said:

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

How does what you call love stack up to what the Bible states?  Can you write this down and read it over and over to align your love with what the Bible says?  How can you make it a priority toward God and secondly to the people around you?