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8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8 NKJV
12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. John 15:12 NKJV
35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 NKJV
love is strong as death; Song of Solomon 8:6 KJV
Many years ago, I heard a story that made a profound impact on my life.
I never learned the author of the piece or I would give them the credit due, but the story is too good not to share.
It seems a teenage granddaughter was visiting her grandmother in a nursing home. The grandmother was suffering from Alzheimer’s, and the young woman was trying to deal with no longer being recognized.
“I’m Rachel, Grandma.”
There was no recognition.
“Your son, Bill, is my Dad, Grandma.”
Nothing.
As the afternoon wore on, the girl realized that her grandmother now merely knew her as the person who brought the ice cream, and nothing more.
The memories were gone, the connections not understood.
The girl was heartbroken. Try as she might, all attempts to jog her grandmother’s memory failed.
At last, she rose to leave, leaned over and hugged her grandmother, and whispered, “I love you, Grandma.”
The elderly eyes brightened and the grandmother spoke clearly for the first time, “OH, I REMEMBER LOVE!!”
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Many years have passed since I first heard the above story.
I am now 75 and my pastor husband is 81. We were retired a good while back, from all but our ministry work.
Sharing Jesus
Hoping to continue to make a difference sharing Jesus with others, my husband and I moved to the projects.
Among our neighbors in this fairly transient community, lived one woman in her upper eighties. Though Fay had dementia, she continued to live alone.
Many of us looked out for her. Daily, she walked over to our apartment to visit. She repeated the same stories over and over. The life she had lived slipped out from time to time. It had been a rough life. Earlier years had been spent without the Lord. Now, in her declining years, she knew Him, and attended church.
We watched her confusion grow more pronounced. Vocabulary began to disintegrate. “Prison” could mean “school” or “church”. “Grandfather” could mean “dentist” or it could mean “sister.” Yesterday was 10 years ago or tomorrow. And so it went.
As her mental decline grew more severe, she maintained one constant. She loved us. We knew it. We felt it.
At the close of every visit, as she opened the door to leave, she would turn back, and call over her shoulder, “I LOVE YOU !”
We would assure her that we loved her too.
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Love is, afterall, the most important thing in our lives.
It is the root of all life.
God is Love.
God Himself is Love and Jesus tells us that the one mark of being His disciple is to love each other.
Life is uncertain. In the time I typed this for you this morning, a prayer request came in for a 15-year-old boy, a fellow believer, who was in an accident. He has no brain activity.
Life is fragile.
Our minds and bodies might fail us one day.
The day may come when we forget basic information, maybe even forgetting who our loved ones are.
You might not remember much of anything.
We might forget God, but He will never forget us.
Accept Him now.
Take His Gift of Salvation through the Love and Sacrifice of Jesus.
Ask God to forgive you through Christ.
Obey and Follow Him.
Let Him hold all of our lives and memories in His Hands, so that whether we remember or forget them, we are His.
He is Love and when we belong to Him, we are forever a part of His Love.
God is Love and we are His children.
While we are able, show His love to others.
Tell them of Jesus.
I remember love…still…today, and so do you.
Let’s do something about it.