Day 594 – Love – The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack

Wisdom-Trek

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy Welcome to Day 594 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom Love - The Tools in Gramps' Backpack Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 594 of our trek and Motivation Monday. We are hiking a series of trails called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack. Each Monday for a total of 20 weeks we will explore a different tool that is needed to motivate and equip parents and grandparents to train their children and grandchildren to be successful on their trek of life. If you don’t have children or grandchildren of your own, use these tools to train others that you do influence. Today the 17th tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Love. We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The previous tool that we explored was renewal, and the importance it is for each of our lives. With the diagnosis of leukemia in our granddaughter Hazel just over two weeks ago, there has been little time for practicing renewal in our lives. Quite the contrary, the investment of time necessary surrounding this cataclysmic life change has required that we add many new duties to an already busy schedule. While these two weeks have exhausted us both physically and emotionally, it certainly has been a time for reflection on what is truly important. Since we do have a long road ahead of us, it will be more important than ever that we invest adequate time in renewal also. As I have reflected on Hazel’s illness I realized that I would do anything I could to take her illness and treatment on me, so she would not have to. I would do this because of my love for Hazel and my desire for her not to go through this time of suffering. Unfortunately, this is not possible. This brings to mind the fact that because of His love for us, Christ gave up his life and suffered hell for us so that we would not have to. Romans 5:8-9, "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation." Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Unconditional love is the strongest form of love. It is so imperative that we love our children, grandchildren, and others that we impact with unconditional love, and lots of it. If they see this kind of love demonstrated in our lives, then they will learn to love others unconditionally. So the tool we will explore today is… Love As we learn of God’s love for us and allow it to become part of the very fabric of our lives, we will start to understand and demonstrate that love to others. Ephesians 3:17-19 gives us a glimpse of the love God has for us, "Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."Love is what sums up the entire Old Testament laws. Christ’s words leave no room for interpretation. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus tells us, "Jesus replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." We are humans, though, and sometimes, despite our best intentions, we fall short. When we become embittered with ourselves, with our family, with our neighbors, and even with God, we disobey the two short commands that sum up the entire law. We disobey the One who gave His life for us.