What's Love Got To Do With It

So I found myself captivated with an actual message within an episode of I Carly a couple of weeks ago. I was watching my 7 year old niece for a couple of hours and that is my only reason for watching this kids sitcom on Nickelodeon. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!


In this particular episode Carly, a preteen, is walking across the street and almost gets hit by a taco truck. Freddie, her best friend since childhood, had run across oncoming traffic to push Carly aside. Freddie was hit by the truck and received a broken leg and a broken arm for his heroics.

During his rehab Carly finds herself not only indebted to him with gratitude but begins to fall in love with her best friend. She visits him everyday and even refers to him as "my hero".

Now Freddie has had a crush on Carly for quite some time and has always dreamed that the two of them would be boyfriend and girlfriend. So they now consider themselves a couple. But after awhile Freddie kind of figures out that Carly is not really in love with Freddie the person, but in love with the heroic actions that he had pulled off.
Freddie becomes a little bit wiser through all of this and doesnt want them to be together under false pretenses. So they decide to just remain best friends.

All of us could probably remember our childhood years and being able to fall in love so easily. We drop a book or pencil when walking through the school hallway and some dreamboat boy or girl stoops down to pick it up for us, our eyes meet and then Bamm!! puppy love has entered the building. Love was simple then. When we got older and matured love took on a whole different meaning for us.

What came to mind when watching this I Carly episode (my mind is always moving around) was not just the thought of falling in love because of actions but our love towards God. And do we only reserve our love for God when action calls for it?

1.We're in a tight situation and God gets us out of it and so our love for Him exists but it only lasts momentarily.

2. Our love for Him is reserved for only certain occasions such as the season of Lent or when we recognize Jesus' birth at Christmas time.

3. In our time of need we run to Jesus for help and so we're going through the motion of
desperate times calls for desperate measures and then find ourselves making a barter with God.

God's love for us never ends and it never fails. He doesn't hold it against us when we do something wrong. He doesn't put His love for us in a box and open it only on certain occasions.

He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins; the single, greatest act and submission of love that will ever exist.

Since I have a fondness for dogs I am always intrigued by one detail when I see someone walking their dog down the street as I drive through various neighborhoods to and from work: you never see a dog angry when out walking with his master. The dogs always look happy. They are wagging their tails, some even look like they are smiling, they are happy they are out walking with their master. Such a simple attitude and response to love.

Here's some questions for each of us to ponder:
If you are walking with the Lord are you happy?
Am I responding to Christ's love for me in a positive way?
Am I reserving my love for God only at certain times of the year?
Do I reflect and appreciate God's love on a daily basis?

And if you are not walking with the Lord and you appear to be happy, it is only a temporary joy you are experiencing brought on by the world and what it has to offer.

But the joy and love that God provides is one that lasts for an eternity. He even promises that:
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11)

In our submission to Christ we gain access to the Father. So we can approach God at anytime day or night and He is there for us, ready to listen and respond.



The title of this post is also the title of a song by Tina Turner. The song is about not giving your heart away so that it can be broken. And within the words of the song she sings that love is a second hand emotion.

But in the Word of God love supercedes all other emotions and your heart can't be broken with God's love.

There are six primary human emotions that function through us: fear, sadness, anger, surprise, love, and joy.
In the Bible:
Anger is mentioned 270 times
Joy 242 times
Sadness only once
Fear, interestingly enough, shows up in one form or another 365 times
But love shows up over 442 times

You may have many questions about love but there is only one real answer and that is Jesus Christ.

Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy. (Psalm 126:5)

If we can,within our trials, sow ourselves into God's Word, worship Him, and pray in faith, God turns our tears and trials into joy.

So when God answers your cry for help it is not the emotion of surprise you should feel
but the emotion of love.