Built to Love


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
It is very clear that the essence of scripture is Love.  Through Love we have a relationship with Jesus Christ and can celebrate his birthday this weekend as our Lord and Savior. The question for us this week is, "Do our relationships mirror the scripture above?"  Love and relationships can at times be a challenging proposition for us men.  However, I haven’t found any gender exclusion in this scripture so we were built and designed to Love.  (Psalm 139:13)
A very good friend passed away this past week and I cried for the first time in I don’t know how long and it felt very manly.  I was very thankful that I had developed a good enough relationship with another man that I could honestly say I loved him and would miss him.  Relationships like these are what we are to have and to cherish, with our families, our friends and most of all, our God. 
This Christmas the gift that I want to give to all of my family and friends is Love.  After all, that is the most important gift that we have been given.  Imagine, we don’t have to fight crowds to purchase this gift, but we might just draw crowds by giving it.
Merry Christmas!
Matthew Likens

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