Weaving is amazing. We can take castoff fibers, no more than ragged remnants from other projects, and bring about useful items of beauty that will become cherished treasures.
It isn’t easy, and it takes a long time. The weaver’s hands must be skillful, inserting this thread here, and that thread there, to bring about the interplay of blues, reds, and yellows that paint the most incredible scenes. Back away a few steps, and the best of weavings will seem like a painting of indiscernible detail. The mixture of colors in the individual threads will blend so well that each one will melt into the next. We won’t be able to tell where one stops and the next starts.
In effect, each thread becomes intrinsic to the next. We can’t imagine the weaving without each one.
That is exactly how God weaves love into our lives.
Colossians 2:2 encourages us to bond one to another:
“That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ.”
1 Samuel 18:1 speaks to us of friendship:
“As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.”
Genesis 34:3 draws us to the opposite sex:
“And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her.”
Genesis 29:32 calls spouses to love one another:
“And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, ‘Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.’ ”
Genesis 25:28 is about love for our children:
“Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”
Genesis 24:67 tells of the comforting power of love:
“Then Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother and took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
1 John 4:8 says love is essential in our lives:
“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Hebrews 13:1 lets us know there is no end to love:
“Let brotherly love continue.”
1 Thessalonians 5:26 is our greeting of love:
“Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.”
John 13:34 commands us to love one another:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
1 Peter 3:8 rates love with the best of qualities we are to show:
“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”
Jesus was our finest example of true love. He lived his life for those who could give him nothing in return, and then relinquished his life on the cross for people who weren’t even born. Jesus loved because he could, not because he expected something in return. His love blended so well into his everyday life that his story has become the tapestry upon which we can base fruitful relationships every day of the year.
Showing love toward others isn’t work when we view the world as our Lord does.
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