Infectious Love

Love. Love is sometimes elusive. Love is sometimes messy. Love is always craved. Love is real.
I hope to explore the mountaintops and valleys of this curious thing called love. Not the commercialized version, but the real thing. More importantly, I want to realize the irrational love of God. A reckless love that knows no shore. A love that is both high and low, big and small.
I used to wonder: How does one nurture a passion for God? Afterall, you can learn principles but you can't learn passion. It's the same with music. I can teach someone how to play guitar, but I can't impart a deep love for music. However, I've found that passion is very contagious. Passionate music makes we want to sing. Likewise, I believe that the key to loving God is first realizing His love for us. As I drink deeply of God's love, I find myself wanting Him more. Consequently, His love awakens mine. I love Him because He first loved me. And His compassion is disarming. It is His kindness that leads me to repentance. His wrath may cause me obey out of fear, but it doesn't stir up affection. However, when my sin distances me from Him, I need only to look into His kind eyes and I begin to miss Him. I can't look away, I can't walk away. I want to tell Him 'I'm sorry' and feel His warm embrace again.
Why is it so hard to realize the great love of God? Is it because it seems too good to be true? Is it because there is nothing else like it in our world? Maybe, we're secretly afraid of the consequences. Such uninhibited love demands an all-or-nothing response. If someone tells you "I love you," then they deperately hope that you'll say the same. And if someone loved you enough to die for you, then it would be cruel to withhold the same intensity of love. Jesus gave His life for me and now it is my turn. I will pour out my life loving Him. I have one heart to give and it belongs to Him. His love is infectious. . .