This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. – 1 John 3:16-17, MSG

Tina Turner famously sang, “What’s love but a secondhand emotion?” Her words expressed a transactional exchange that was void of any underlying relational concern or consideration. “What’s love got to do with it?”

In contrast, scripture informs us that love is more verb than noun, and definitely not transactional.

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.

Another mass shooting. Universal condemnation of the heinous act, followed by expressions of condolence, an overflow of memorials and declarations of love for families bearing unimaginable grief.

Transformation? Change?

If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

What’s love got to do with it? Everything.

Categories: Acts17seventeen

Tagged as: Gun Violence Pain Uvalde

Pastor Mark

Mark, the eighth of nine children born to Reuben and Henrietta Meeks—dedicated church planters with nearly 30 congregations established across California’s Central Valley—is a preacher's kid who grew up immersed in faith and service. With over forty years of experience teaching, discipling, and ministering to communities, including the hospitalized and incarcerated, Mark responded to God's call to pastoral ministry. He holds degrees in civil engineering and public administration, as well as a Master’s in Theology from Fuller Seminary, equipping him to serve with both practical insight and spiritual depth.