Pure Love

By Donna Wittlif

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins"  (1 John 4:10, NIV).
     In 1974 Ronnie Milsap's song "Pure Love" became a hit. I liked it, and I laugh now as I listen to it and hear the things the song says make for pure love. As in many songs, the writer's viewpoint of what love is comes from his self-centered nature.
     Real love comes from the giving of self and what we hold dearest. In the words of the apostle Paul, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self - seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Lov e does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
     True pure love does not always make the giver feel wonderful and special. Job endured much suffering without cursing God because of his love for God. Abraham was ready to offer his son Isaac because of his love for God. Hannah promised her son Samuel to God because of her love. None of those things was fun.
     The greatest example of pure love is the love for mankind that Jesus showed as He hung on the cross and died for our sins. We can only imagine what leaving heaven and its glory to come here and seek and save the lost meant for Him. Christ left His godly form and became man. He suffered poverty, fatigue, loneliness, unwarranted rebukes, shame, mocking, beatings, betrayal, and death on a cruel cross for our sakes. That is pure love, a love that will never again be seen in this world.
     How can we demonstrate that kind of love for our fellow man and for God? All we can do is walk side by side with Christ as He guides us and holds our hand in pure love.

- Donna Wittlif, the founder and first editor of BulletinGold, lives in Denver, CO. Donna is also a writer of fiction. Her novels, World Eternal: Promises and World Eternal: Proselytes, and World Eternal: Perils, and her newest book, Finding Her Heart,  are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book outlets. For more information visit her website. http://www.donnarwittlif.com/