So I guess the long delayed follow-up would be - "This love of which you speak ... how the heck do I get to have and/or nuture it??". We all, to some degree or another, feel that we do have that love in us but there are times when we feel that it has not yet grown into fullness that it can and should. We don't feel that it is quite able to see us through rough times yet or that it has grown into that unashamed "I love Christ and I don't care what you think of me for it" state that we sometimes see in others and wonder at.

So, how do we nurture the growth of this love for Christ, this "Agape"?

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." - John 13:34-35

These were some of the last instructions that Christ gave us before going to the Cross. Well yes, that only makes sense ... if we are Christians we should love each other. Sounds pretty simple and straightforward, right? (Is it really? Think about the different fellow Christians that you know ... not just the ones you like).

And that is just scratching the surface. In the parable of the Sheep and the Goats (in Matt 25) we find:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

We grow in love through our practice of it, even when we are not feeling very loving towards the recepient ... perhaps especially at this time. Now here's the hard part - we ought to love for love's sake not so we can feel like we are good people or better people and not so that we can cash in on our deposit of good deeds.

It is not always easy, our reasons sometimes get jumbled up and we are not quite as pure in our motives as we ought to be. To that I'd say just start somewhere and let God's grace and mercy take care of the other stuff. It is His grace that brings the purity to our love and in the recognition of our failings even in the area of showing love to each other and to Him, we let Him love us through Himself and through others.