TRUE LOVE by Robert Soto

TRUE LOVE by Robert Soto

February 14, 2010

I John 3:16 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."

I don't know when I discovered love. I think it was in second grade when I turned around and saw Elizabeth, this second grader who stood out far above all the other children in our class. She seemed to enjoy everything I enjoyed and not only that, but she enjoyed talking to me. I was taller and bigger than most kids so most would ignore me and not talk to me. Everything was great between us and for some reason, this little second grader decided I had to let her know how I felt about her. So I took my little pencil and a sheet of paper and in the few sentences I told her I really loved her and wanted her as my girlfriend. I remember being scared. I remember being nervous. I gave her my note and sort of ran off. It was on the way to PE. At that time our second grade teacher was our PE teacher. I remember lining up for some exercises. But before we started our exercises the teacher said, "Class, I just received an interesting note that I would like to read to the whole class." Then she proceeded to read my note which little innocent Elizabeth had given to her.

It was then that I discovered a hard lesson in life as the whole class looked at me and started to laugh. I learned that not only did love bring a good feeling, but sometimes love hurt. It took me a long time before I gave another love note to another girl. It was many years later that I learned another lesson in love. While sometimes love hurts, there is one love that will never fail you; that is the unconditional love that comes when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. As John wrote, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." Love was more than a feeling, love was consideration put to action and willing to sacrifice for not only those you know, but for strangers who would never give you the time of day. HAPPY VALINTINE'S DAY!

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church