This week I am posting on this theme: “Fill in the blank: Love is________.”
Love is kinship.
Love is kinship in that those we love become family to us. Many of us have probably grown up with family friends that were so close our parents told us to call them family. I grew up knowing my parent’s best friends as “uncle Glenn” and “aunt Linda.” We often talk about our closest friends as family. This is seen most clearly in marriage where a man and a woman who love each other join to become a new family—they literally become a new family, they become kin. The same is true with God. Our relationship with Him is patterned after family and kinship. He is our Father. Jesus is twice called our brother in Hebrews 2:11-12, and again in verse 17. His people are called the family of God and members of His household in Ephesians 2:19.
Love is kinship in a second way, we become like the people we love. The relational kinship we share with those we love changes and transforms our character, our manner, our speech, our motives, how we think, and even our passions and desires. We become like the things we love. Why did John say he and the other disciples recognized Jesus as God’s Son? The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14, NIV). He shared the Father’s glory. He shared His Father’s character being full of grace and truth. In John 13:34-35 (NIV), Jesus said, A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Loving Jesus, loving God, changes us and transforms us in heart and mind so that we love one another with the same love He has for us. You recognize a person as someone who loves God because their love bears the traits of His love.
Love is kinship.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 
Love is kinship. 🙂 We do tend to emulate the best qualities of those we love in a deep way. We see the best when others may not.
People ask so how could you choose him or her? They are stupid, they are fat, they are _____ fill in the blank. But what you see in them is their big heart, their kind spirit, their generous nature. We see their best qualities and the world just has to wait.
The same when we love god. We see the best in our father and his love even when others might say but god is _____. We see his mercy, we see his heart, we see the best in him as well. I hear it at times with my own man and Sarah. The negative doesn’t affect me because I know their good qualities. And they are very very good.
Dan I love you as a brother. I know people might say but he smokes, but he _____ fill in the blank. I see a man who is kind, a father who is loving and a husband who is the model I dream mine will be. Romantic and loving in all things.
Your sister and friend forever.
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I know you love me because you included punctuation in your response! =p
Seriously, Michelle, that love is reflected right back at you. You are kin to me, and I enjoy loving you, even when it gets messy… Perhaps then even more so. (See how I related all three posts to my response? Don’t try that at home, I am a professional! =P)
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