“Lord, if you love me, then…”

Do those words sound familiar? Maybe instead of Lord, we substitute honey, sweetie, baby, mom, or dad. But, even if we don’t use that exact phrasing, the intent is the same. We want professed love to be converted into some form of action. We want love to be actualized. When this conversion happens we feel elated, satisfied, and secure…at least temporarily. But what about when love doesn’t get actualized? What are the consequences? Love that is not actualized can sometimes lead to the ending of a relationship, hurt, disappointment, and perhaps, a harsh dose of reality. Now, we don’t always take inaction to mean that the other person doesn’t love us. Because the truth is, oftentimes, we’re simply trying to get our own way. However, that need to have love demonstrated in some way is part of who we are.

Merriam Webster defines the word actual as “existing in act not merely potentially”. In essence it means to make manifes or to make real. Now this doesn’t in any way mean that love that isn’t actualized isn’t real. In certain instances, one can love and not have an opportunity to actualize that love. A clear example would be a person who dies before having an opportunity to actualize their love. Conversely, in another instance, the act of dying may be the ultimate expression and actualization of love.

“For God so loved the world that He…”

I’m sure we’re all familiar with that scripture. We’ve heard it over and over again. We’ve seen it on t-shirts, billboards, caps, and plenty of other places, but do we really understand its significance? Jesus is the actualized love of God. God said to His creation, I love you! Now, let me show you how much I love you.

God understood the need to have His professed love actualized. In turn, Jesus Christ, the actualized love of God, actualized His love for both God and us by sacrificing Himself. In doing so, He demonstrated his love and obedience to God and redeemed us in the process. Is love being actualized in your life today? Are we, who were made in God’s image, following in our father’s footsteps?

Love can be actualized in many ways, though not always in the way that we specifically want it to be. There is a popular book that was written some years ago. It’s called The 5 Love Languages. The book, in essence, asks us to identify how we want love to be actualized in our lives and how we should actualize it to others, based on their particular love language? This is more than just an idle exercise. Imagine if we all heard things at different frequencies. Unless someone spoke to us at our exact frequency, we’d see only moving lips. We might not know that someone is actually attempting to communicate with us. Hundreds, thousands (maybe even millions) of people have employed these techniques in their everyday lives. I wonder though, how many of us have bothered to find out what God’s love language is. How do we actualize love in that relationship? What form will your actualized love take when it comes to God?

I stated earlier that we were made in God’s image. I also believe that in that making – that creation- there is revelation and understanding of our true nature: we are like Him. And in understanding God’s true nature, we also understand something of our nature: He loves and wants to be loved. He actualizes His love and in turn wants our love for Him to be actualized as well. He not only wants it for Himself, but he wants us to actualize that love to others. Since we were created in the image of our father, we rage against our true nature when we do not act like Him. My question to you (and myself) is how will you actualize your love for God? How will you actualize your love for your brothers and sisters? Don’t wait for demands or ultimatums. Do it unbidden. Do it just because. It can be something as simple as spending time with someone you love, a hug, a kiss, washing the dishes without being asked, or just holding hands. Actualize love today. Make it a habit.