True Love

Today I hold in my hand a very valuable gift. Several years ago, a dear friend of mine gave this to me for my birthday. On the outside, it just looks like an old envelope with my name written on it in crayon. On the inside, it just looks like a tattered old piece of paper with some scribbling on the inside. There's also a dollar enclosed.

To the average person, this would be worthless--except for the dollar. To me, this gift is priceless because it was given in love. By this one little homemade gift, a small boy who has remained my friend through the years showed me that he loved "Big Chris" and just wanted to give him something special for his birthday.

Did you know that you can say that you love someone without really meaning it? The Bible says that it is by our actions that we show our love. (Read 1 John 3:18)

So how do we show people that we love them? By how we treat them. How do we show people the love of Jesus? The same way. It's only when our actions show love that people can really believe that we care about them.

Lord, help us to love with our actions and not just by empty words. May people see Your love in us as we pass that love on to others. Amen!