Ah, February...February is a month in which a lot of attention is given to the topic of love. The sad part is that most people have absolutely no idea what love looks like or how it’s supposed to act. It’s no wonder, over the last 50 years or so, thanks to an increasingly amoral entertainment industry, love has become synonymous with sex. Sad to say, most people don’t know the difference.

The Bible, on the other hand, gives a very different picture of love. 1 Corinthians 13 says "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." In 1 John 4:7-8 we learn that love comes from God, because God is himself love.

No mystery here, love is clearly defined by God’s word. Oddly enough, even Christians have somehow bought into the idea that love is a warm fuzzy feeling. But love is not a feeling. It’s a choice.

Matthew 5:44 tells us to "love your enemies." It is impossible to feel warm and fuzzy about people we don’t like. Therefore, since we know God wouldn’t ask (or command) us to do something we CAN’T, it must mean love is a choice. Jesus said in John 13:35, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

By understanding the nature of love, and then choosing to operate in it, we declare ourselves as followers of Christ. It isn’t the t-shirt we wear or the little fish on our cars. They’ll know us by our love.

In the dead of winter, trees are difficult to tell apart unless you’re a horticulturalist. The bare branches all tend to look the same against a gray winter sky. In spring the blossoms give a hint of what will follow, but by late summer the identity of the tree is completely revealed with the appearance of fruit. There can be no mistaking an apple tree for a peach tree. The fruit is the evidence.