It is used in so many different ways. Love! We have all used it in one way. We love chocolate. We love football. We love our parents. We see it
in our everyday lives. A baby begins to cry and a mother drops everything that she is doing in order to comfort it. A father rushes from work to come
to a sporting event that his son is participating in regardless of how much playing time the son gets. It is love that seems to drive the unselfish
nature in humans, creating an atmosphere of helping out or pleasing. But what does God say about love?

The famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, says "that love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is
not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." In order to show God's love through us, we should be humble, kind, patient,
calm, and not become jealous. We should not keep grudges against the ones that we love and should be optimistic and encouraging towards others.
Although some may have not known that biblical love had multiple descriptions, many have read 1 Corinthians 13 and understood what it means
to love someone. However, the question I am answering today is whom are we supposed to love? And how are we to do that?

The most important love we can give is the to love God. There is no greater commandment in the Bible. We are supposed to love God more than
anything else in this world. The Torah says in Deuteronomy 6:5 we are supposed to Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your
soul and with all your strength. Every part of our body is to love God. Loving God is so important that the first of the Ten Commandments in Exodus
20:3 states that You shall have no other gods before me. By loving God with anything less than our entire body, we would be disobeying the first
commandment by loving something more than God. Often a big contributor to disobeying the first commandment is pride. We often put ourselves
ahead of  God, believing that we are more important that God and deserve more fame than God deserves. How do we love God?
When we love our parents, we simply show it by giving them a hug or possibly making breakfast in bed for mom on Mother's Day.
If the Bible says that we show our love towards God by loving one another, I ask you, how well are you showing God you love him?

The Scriptures mention two different types of people in the world that deserve our love. The most common type of love that we show is love for our
neighbors, or friends. This type of love is in some terms easy and although we sometimes put ourselves before our friends, we usually find time to help
out and serve those we like. In Galatians 5:13-14 makes an extremely important statement, "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not
use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire Torah is summed up in a single command: "Love your
neighbor as yourself." The last verse is extremely important and creates simplicity towards the Torah. We show our love to our parents by obeying
their laws. Likewise, we obey God's law in order to show our love for Him. It says the entire Torah is summed up by loving your neighbor as yourself,
which makes obeying God a lot easier correct? However, loving your neighbor can be often difficult, and by difficult I don't mean that one doesn't want
to love their neighbor but that it could take a lot of work to show someone how much they mean to you.

For example, there have been many love gifts given to my family regarding my mom's sickness. Many of you know the story but for those who
don't, my mom was diagnosed with a flesh eating disease when I was six years old. It was a sudden disease that struck quickly and within a matter of
hours sent my mom to the hospital with 24-hour life expectancy. Well my mom survived a lot longer than that, but looking back on that night and the
following months, we were able to see how much love some of our friends were able to show. Because of the highly contagious disease, my brother
and I were not allowed to see my mom or be near her. It was after midnight on a certain night where I was taken in by friends and given a place to stay. It
is not easy taking in a six year old especially so unexpectedly, and for an undetermined amount of time. My dad was needed at the hospital and it was
the family friends who showed their love for my family and took care of my brother and me. Although this might seem like just a nice thing to do or
even an obvious thing to do because there was no other option, it was simply an act of love, an act that took a lot of time and energy.

Another act of love that was greatly appreciated by my family was recently when my mom needed some prosthesis legs that were too expensive for
my family to buy. My mom's friends were able to raise over $80,000 through multiple fundraisers and countless hours of work. This act was not a single
group but a community effort to show love for their neighbor. When I thanked one of them for their work, they simply replied that they loved my
mom and wanted her to taste heaven early. I found that an interesting comment because our ultimate goal should be to get our neighbors into
heaven, and what better way to show that than loving them to the fullest.

Another mitzvah in the Bible is to love our enemy as well. I know, probably something you don't want to hear, but in God's eyes, this
commandment is a way to show our love for Him. In Mathew 5:43-48, Yeshua said, "There is a saying, 'Love your friends and hate your enemies.' But I
say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven. For he gives his
sunlight to both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even
scoundrels do that much. If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that. But you are to be
perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. This includes many people that we encounter in life; Bears and Packers, Red Sox and Yankees,
and even Francis Parker High School! It is important that we continue to show God's love and our love for Him through our actions and loving our
enemies and our neighbors. Most importantly we must pass on the love God gave us. We undeservedly accept his love. The most precious gift of love
was Messiah's death on the execution stake. He gave his only Son so that we might live eternally. He also forgives our sins and time after time accepts
us back into the family. It is the least we can do; after all the amazing gifts that he has given us. Don't let the chain of love end with you.

Brian Kolb's family are long time members of KA. He is presently attending Wheaton College in Chicago and has been accepted to the Athletes
In Action ministry.