Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty. Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart. Earn a reputation for living well in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.
Proverbs 3: 3-4 The Message
Love and Loyalty are two very noble goals. Love is at the heart of God’s great commandments for us: “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength”, and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It all begins with love.
Loyalty is also mentioned by the author of Proverbs. To be loyal means to stand by someone through thick and thin. As the news reports are coming out about the survivors of Hurricane Ida, I am struck by the way in which neighbors supported and care for one another. As one of them put it, “That’s what it means to live in Louisiana: we take care of one another.”
The alternative to love is apathy: just deciding not to care. Imagine living in a world where everyone was apathetic. I don’t want to live in such a world-and neither do you! A person would be hard-pressed to find loyalty in such an uncaring world. Instead, unbridled self-interest would rule the day. People would only be loyal to themselves, and no one else!
Fortunately, God excels in showing us what love and loyalty are all about. The Lord loves us unconditionally, in spite of our sin. He forgives us. Jesus shows us what loyalty is, for he talks about this quality as being intertwined with love, saying “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Let us aim to demonstrate to the world what love and loyalty look like, in the same way that we rejoice and celebrate God’s love for us. After all, God is love…
Prayer
Loving and holy God,
Let me never lose my grip on what is really important in life: love for You, and love for my neighbor. When the world encourages me to adopt other priorities, remind me that loving and giving are my calling. Guard my heart, so that I might not become callous, or uncaring. Instead, let my heart break over what breaks your heart. Then give me the courage, the desire, and the guidance to work on making this world a better place. I ask this prayer for Your glory, and for the sake of my neighbors both near and far. I pray this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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