Living a Pure LifeSample

Real love is worth the work. 

Yesterday, we learned that the world has the wrong idea about purity. And culture often tells us a lot of lies about love, too. For example, in the movies, we often see two people fall in love overnight, never have real problems, and end up happily ever after.  

It’s nice for a fairy tale, but in in real life, that’s not how love works—especially not the kind of love that we’re called to give when we follow Jesus. 

 Real love takes work. It’s not easy. You don’t just fall into it, and it’s way more than just an emotion. Love is a choice you have to make every day. It’s a lot easier to stop loving someone than it is to keep loving them, but it’s worth it to put in the work. 

Valentine's Day often makes us think that if we buy the right card or give the best candy that we'll be on the path to true love. Ew. Nope. Check out this video that shows how real love and purity isn't about what you do—but who you are!

The world tries to sell a fake, mushy-gushy kind of love that won’t last. But real, godly love is so much better. Yes, it takes work, but real love is worth the work. 

Jesus gave us the best example of what real love looks like by giving up His life for us. In fact, He tells us the best way to show love for someone is to do that—to lay down your life for a friend. Now, this doesn’t mean you literally have to die for a friend. But it does mean putting what someone else wants above what you want. 

Love was such a big deal to Jesus that it’s actually one of the most important commands He gave us. He taught us that the most important things we can do as we follow Him are to love God and to love people. 

And loving people isn’t a one-time thing. It’s choosing to be the bigger person. To treat others the way you want them to treat you. In fact—it’s even treating other people the way Jesus would treat them. That’s a pretty high standard. 

In 1 Corinthians, we learn a lot about what God says about love, and it’s hard to do by yourself. Love isn’t jealous. It requires us to be patient with other people and not to keep score by only loving people when they’re easy to love or when they show you love in return. But God will help you love other people when you ask Him to. So, remember—Jesus is the best example of what love looks like. Choose to follow Him and remember that real love is worth fighting for.