On a trip to our ministry location in Tennessee we found some time at the end of a leadership training session for questions and answers. Since I make the trip only several times a year, the questions seemed to migrate from leadership, to ministry in general, and then to my philosophical approach for the ministry. (Philosophy comes from philos (love) plus sophia (wisdom) and therefore means love of wisdom.) Eventually, this is bound to happen when the person who initiated the ministry is not always present and involved in the everyday lives of its people. Charlie, one of our students and a school dad, asked me what of all the things in life and ministry was most important. The question caused me to search my heart and soul deeply in those brief moments. As I searched, the reality of what my parents had ingrained in me rushed to the forefront of my heart and lips. Love was all that really mattered. We learned that regardless of whether we had much or little, there could always be joy and contentment because of the love surrounding us.

As child who has been cherished by parents who love God, you may have a propensity to take love for granted. I know I did. As I’ve mentioned before, when I was young, even John’s writings seemed just a bit too fluffy because they talked a lot about love. I thought everyone had experienced what I had grown up with. The older I got, the more I realized how wrong that impression was. I came to understand that what most people interpret as love was in reality, conditional gratitude based on their thought paradigm or selfish desires. The years continued to show me that few experience agape type of love the way I have tried to portray it to you.

We’ve also talked about the four driving emotions that motivate us to success or failure. If you consider the role of love in each one of the emotions, you can see that if it exists you will be driven to the success of fulfilling God’s plan for you. You will also see that a lack of it is what will keep Satan and his negative followers busy in your life. Consider this:

• If you have love, you will be passionate about your calling and less susceptible to depression.
• If you have love, you will be more caring about those who surround you, your support system will constantly surround you with prayer’s hedge of protection.
• If you have love, you will be able to differentiate between respect (Yare’) for God’s principles and fear (Yir’ah) of This knowledge, this will guarantee the visible results and invisible depth which will allow you to weather any storm of life.
• If you have love, your hope will meet the expectations God placed in your heart through desire.

Love is the foundational resource that motivated The Father to design a perfect plan and kingdom for us. Love is the foundational resource that motivated Christ to create you, die for you, and spend His time praying for you. Love is the foundational resource that motivates the Holy Spirit to inhabit your body and serve as your internal compass, even though you at times ignore Him. In each case the love is unconditional. In each case the love is eternally motivated to see you attain your “completed state.” This is the believer’s philosophy. If all things do work together for the good, then it is all good. It is all love.

Love,

Dad