The Proof of Your Love

I've been thinking and meditating on the Love chapter recently.  Then I heard this song on the radio and I had to write down my thoughts.

"The Proof Of Your Love"

(for King and Country)

If I sing but don't have love
I waste my breath with every song
I bring an empty voice, a hollow noise
If I speak with a silver tongue
Convince a crowd but don't have love
I leave a bitter taste with every word I say

So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

If I give
To a needy soul but don't have love then who is poor?
It seems all the poverty is found in me

So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
Oh, let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love

When it's all said and done
When we sing our final song
Only love remains
Only love remains

Let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You and what You're made of
How You lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof,
The proof of Your love 

1 Corinthians 13 is an excellent chapter that people like to read at their weddings because it is such a beautiful picture of the characteristics of what love really looks like.  I've memorized those characteristics and tried to practice them in my own relationships with people.  But the beautiful thing to think about is that not only does this apply to our dealings with people, this is the way God loves us.  1 John 4:8 declares that God is Love.  So if we want to know what love looks like, we need look no further than God.  Scripture is full of declarations and examples of God's love.

Love is patient, 1 Corinthians 13:4.  Psalm 145:8, The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

Love is kind, 1 Corinthians 13:4.  Romans 2:4, God's kindness leads you toward repentance.

Love is not easily angered, 1 Corinthians 13:5.  Psalm 103:9, He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever.

Love keeps no record of wrongs, 1 Corinthians 13:5.  Psalm 103:12, As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Love does not delight in evil, 1 Corinthians 13:6.  James 1:13, God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.

Love never fails, 1 Corinthians 13:8.  Psalm 100:5, For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations.

I am struck by how Scripture describes God as always being faithful, always loving, always, kind, always, always, always.  And at other times, never failing, never giving up on us, never, never, never.  In counseling situations, we exhort couples to not use the words "always" and "never" because they can be inflamatory and usually untrue.  But with God who is eternal, He truly is always what he says he is and truly never fails.

Then I was reading Ann Voskamp's blog a week or so ago and she wrote about her pastor's sermon on Psalm 23.  Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue all the days of my life.  He said that you can think goodness and mercy just follow you, but the Hebrew word for ‘follow’ is ‘radaph’ and it means to “to pursue, to run after, to chase” or, quite literally, “to hunt you down”. The word radaph, that one that goodness and mercy is doing in Psalm 23:6 is first found in Genesis 14, when Abram discovers that his nephew Lot has been kidnapped and Abram gathers an army of 318 men and “pursued them unto Dan” (Genesis 14:14). The word ‘pursued’ there? It’s ‘radaph’.  Chased!   The goodness and mercy of God isn’t just following after me placidly. The goodness and mercy of God pursues after me passionately. It’s what I keep thinking, picking up lost legos, errant books — like how my mama used to dash off the front porch and run down the lane after me, waving about whatever book I forgot for school — and who else is behind a forgetful, rat-race world but the chasing God?
God is so bent on blessing, He chases.
God’s not out to get you — He’s out to give to you.
And God’s blessings don’t pursue temporarily — but relentlessly. It’s right there in His Word: His goodness and mercy pursue me not just some days — but all the days of my life. When I’m in a wilderness, His mercy and goodness run after me. When I’m hurting, His grace hunts for me. When I’m plagued by problems, His goodness pursues me.


Psalm 23:6:  Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life...God's love pursues me.  I love that picture. He's chasing after me with His love.