Where's the love?

We had been in a drought, so he was right, but attempting to interject some "positivity" in the conversation, I said, "You're right, we could use more rain; but now you will get more customers." The young man looked at me with some hurt showing in his face, and opened up a bit more to explain his comment. He said, "I could do with fewer customers. Most of them have been very mean to me today. After all, here it is—the "holidays"—where's the love?"

As I thanked him for his help and told him I hoped the rest of his day went better for him (for which he seemed thankful). I thought, "Indeed, where is the love?"

The season is filled with the hustle and bustle of time-strapped consumers, rushing to "get" this or that gift, organize this or that office party—entirely unconcerned with showing respect, much less love, to their fellow human being who is doing his or her best to serve them at their local store. Love? There is no genuine love in these holidays. Why?

Because these holidays are not based on love—they are based on lust, the way of "get"! Does that shock you? Think about it. Can we honestly describe the almost panicked buying frenzy as anything even close to "love"?

Well then, let's ask: "What is love?" "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16). And, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).

If God is love, then His Law is, literally, the Law of Love!

God's Law shows us how to love God, and then how to love our fellow human beings made in His image (Exodus 20:1-17). In the expanded portions of His Law, God says, "…do not inquire after their [the heathen or pagan] gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods…Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it" (Deuteronomy 12:30-32). Why is the Almighty so "agro" about using the rites, ceremonies and traditions of other "gods" to worship Him? It is because the "gods" worshipped by the Gentiles are not gods at all, but are actually demons (Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 96:5; Psalm 106:37). And we are not going to find a relationship with the one true God by participating in practices instituted by such bogus "gods" (1 Corinthians 10:20-21; 2 Corinthians 6: 14-18).

Since God is love—the very source of love—then to find love we need to find Him and His ways—not the ways of the evil world around us (Galatians 1:4), corrupted by lust (2 Peter 1:4), which is the way of "get."

Love is described as laying down your life for your friends (John 15:13)—an act our Savior Jesus Christ exemplified more than any man who has ever lived (Romans 5:7-9). Yet, as even honest historians acknowledge, Jesus and His immediate apostles never kept Christmas or the other love-deprived holidays in which so many today spend themselves in frustration and acts of unkindness.

So, where's the love? Is it in the man-made "holidays" that God did not institute and has warned against? No. It is found in His Laws and His Holy Days. Where's the love? It is with God. Get closer to Him and His ways, and you will find it!

Learn more about godly love by writing for our free booklet, The Ten Commandments. You may also be interested in the "holidays" that God teaches in the Bible. Send for your free copy of The Holy Days – God's Master Plan.

Both will be sent free to you upon your request.