I’m Dr. Bob and for just a Mentoring Minute, I want to point out to you that it is easy to recognize genuine love. A great deal of the trouble in our lives comes from failing to recognize and understand the life-changing, life-saving value of love. This value is clear to see in love’s simplest, focused definition, which is that “love is grace released.” I want to assure you that if you think you love or are loved, but the love is defined by feelings alone, or driven by selfish motivations, it is not love. It cannot meet the definition. It is just a counterfeit that will disappoint, damage and possibly even destroy you or someone else involved with it. To decide whether love is real, ask if, when released, it becomes the delivery vehicle of God’s grace. When you demonstrate unselfish love toward others, your actions release a divinely designed dose of God’s grace into their lives. Most of the time, this release of His grace depends on your willingness to provide it, even knowing it might cost you. If you hold love back, or selfishly substitute something you deliberately disguise as love, someone will miss the grace. However, as you release a demonstration of real Christian love, God’s grace lands squarely on the need it has been designed by heaven to fill… only because you cared enough to love enough. I’m Dr. Bob and that’s a Mentoring Minute. You can listen to previous Mentoring Minutes at http://www.mentoringministry.com/blog/.
