Love is all that matters

Today I was thinking about all I've gone through this year and the thoughts were overwhelming. As I began to recount one event after another, I asked God to help me understand why each thing had come into my life. In my heart, I felt Him saying, "I have much to teach you, and you have much to learn." Much to learn...yes, I have so much to learn.

In my 56 years of life, I have learned many things, some practical, helpful things and some very valuable life lessons. But of all the things I've learned to date, I have to admit the most valuable lesson I've ever learned is that love is really all that matters. The kind of love I speak about is not a romantic type of love, it's an unconditional love...the love of Christ.

There are so many people in my life who've taught me different aspects of love, but today, I'd like to focus on my father in law, Carl Annis, who went home to be with the Lord many years ago. Dad was a very godly man, a gentle and quiet man...one who loved unconditionally. He was always willing to help others, always giving, always kind. He was a dedicated husband and father. He had a huge servant's heart and was always at the ready whenever the church needed him for building repairs, to serve meals to ESL students, or to minister Christ's love to the hurting. He was an exemplary citizen. He was a veteran of World War II. He served in the Marines, the Air Force, and the Army National Guard. He accomplished many things in his lifetime, but the most important of all was his ability to show love.

During the autumn of his life, Dad became very ill. What we originally thought was Bell's Palsy, became Parotid Gland Cancer. Valiantly, Dad endured surgery and radiation treatments. We watched this strong and vibrant man brought low by something he could not control. As the cancer pervaded his body, he fought hard. He did everything the doctors told him to do and even at his weakest moment, he still focused on love.

On the day we realized Dad was going to leave this earth, I had the honor and privilege of being by his side. During the last hours of his life, my mother in law, my husband, and I surrounded him with our love. We sang some of his favorite hymns, we prayed over him, and when I asked Mom what his favorite verses of Scripture were, she said, "1 Corinthians 13." That chapter is known by Christians as the "Love Chapter."

I turned to the book of 1 Corinthians in Dad's old leather bound Bible and began to read to him, "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing.
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. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

It was so difficult to read that passage because as I was reading, I was watching my sweet Father in Law's face. His eyes were closed but he was listening. I felt so much love wash over me at that very moment. Not only love from my dear Father in Law, but the love of my Heavenly Father surrounding me with His peace. Love is a multi faceted emotion. It can be so hard to endure, especially at tender moments like death. It can be so overpowering that it is almost too much to handle. I've experienced the power of love when it's blossomed with joy and when it's provided soft closure in the homegoing of a loved one. 

Dad taught me that truly, love is all that matters. As Cancer came to visit me this year, I couldn't help but think about the lessons Dad taught me. There are so many worries and fears associated with Cancer and Satan takes advantage of playing mind games using those weapons to challenge our thinking. But there is a power much greater than fear and that is the power of love. The Bible says that perfect love casts out fear. "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18 Dad taught me how to fight Cancer. He taught me how to be brave. He taught me not to give in and not to give up. He taught me to have hope. 

The greatest lesson I could ever share with my children and grandchildren would be the true lesson of love. The Bible speaks so much about love and my hope is that I can be an example of that unconditional love through this last part of my life. I know I've made many mistakes in my life. I haven't always loved well. Sure, I've tried my best, but I just haven't gotten it right...but there's hope for me yet because, the Bible also says "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" 1 Peter 4:8 My most heartfelt prayer is that I will be found faithful, that I will end my life by loving well. Someday, when others speak of me and of my life, I hope they will remember how I loved for nothing else will have mattered.

God is still teaching me how to love the way He wants me to love. He's showing me how to see through His eyes and how to live out 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13. It has not been easy, but through His gift of Cancer, He is showing me daily new aspects of that little four letter word, love. John Lennon, had an tiny inkling of what love was about when he wrote the chorus to his song, "All You Need is Love."
"All you need is love... All you need is love... All you need is love, love... Love is all you need."
But John didn't understand it nearly as well as my Father in Law did and he certainly didn't understand it as Christ did. The Bible also says in one of the most profound verses of all, God is love. "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8

I am honored to be a student of love and I am thankful for the many, many teachers God has chosen to give me during my lifetime. Dad was just one of the very instrumental people who have taught me well through their own personal example of living a life that honored and pleased God. It would take me pages and pages to list all the people who've crossed my path sharing lessons on loving. God has used each of them to help me come to a deeper understanding of not only the real meaning of love; but of who He is and the way He wants us to live. 

Love is a precious gift and is most precious when we give it away. Dad knew this truth so well and he did an excellent job at giving it away, not only to his family, but to all those he met during his life. To a great man of God, Carl R. Annis, I dedicate this post. You are loved and you are missed, but you will never be forgotten.   

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"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7