I would die for you.

"I love you".  "I love football."  "I love steak."  "I love Jesus."

I have recently been pondering on the word "Love". After weeks of thought at observation of others' conversations and even my own, I've come to the conclusion that we as a society throw that word around quite a bit without true meaning. 

Don't get me wrong. Steak is delicious, I really enjoy football, and Jesus is the best thing that has ever happened to me. But how can I compare my "love" of my Lord and savior in one conversation, and then in the next talk about my "love" for sports. For me it doesn't add up. I have recently challenged myself to replace the word "love" with other passionate words such as "remarkable" or "fantastic".  It challenges me. Maybe it can challenge you too. 

I get it, it may be just an expression of conversation for you. I mean after all, I still have to catch myself saying, "Man I loved that movie!" No Nate, you thought that movie was really great and you enjoyed it. That is the problem. Maybe that is why true love has been tainted. Simply because we use "love" to describe our generic feelings for many simple things in life. 

If you would not die for it, then you do not love it. 

I believe that is the true meaning of love. When I say that I love something, I want to mean it with everything inside of me. I want my love to be worth dying for. I want to be worth dying for. Thank God I was. If Jesus would die for me, then I would die for you too. 

I encourage you to actively listen to your next conversation with friends. I challenge you to learn what love means to you. Then go and live that out. Love is the greatest gift I have ever received. It is my purpose to share that with the world. 

I am reading a book every month this year. I am finishing up a book called "Jacob, the Fools God chooses." by David Roper. It is 10 cents on amazon for a paperback. I highly recommend it.