As I started thinking of how much love is necessary in our life I recounted what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13. He wrote that we may have the gift of prophecy, faith to remove mountains, giving all our possessions to the poor, have all knowledge, but without love it is nothing.

Love is patient, is kind, is not jealous, does not brag, is not arrogant, is not provoked, does not seek its own, and so forth. All the abilities we have are to no avail unless we have love. Then the Apostle ends the chapter with these words, “But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Love is an important word and is mentioned throughout the Bible. The number of times that love is mentioned in the Bible depends on the version of the Bible. In the King James version, love is mentioned 310 times, 131 times in the Old Testament and 179 times in the New Testament.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 22, a lawyer asks Jesus, “Which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus answered, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ on these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets.”

We need to show love for one another and treat people as we want to be treated. What a better world we would have if we took Jesus’ commandments to heart.
A touch from God

Sounds of laughter from young and old

Tell the story of a true soul

Words too often hard to find

To truly express what’s on one’s mind

Often times we forget so much

When really we only need a touch

Is it so hard to show love?

When we’ve been taught from above

To love thy neighbor as thyself

For without love what is left?

Wish we could enjoy life

Without so much toil and strife

But that’s not in the master plan

For without it what is man?

A mere existence upon this earth

Battling life for all its worth

From life’s struggles emerges man

Dependent upon God for all we can

Renewed in the spirit and glorified

To God in Heaven before he died.
Jim Sanders is a Natchez resident.