Love is not just a three-letter word

Everyone talks about love, but what they usually mean is sex.

There's nothing wrong with sex, in its place. It's one of God's best ideas. He gave it to us because he knew that on our own we're nothing. We need love and companionship if we're going to survive in the hard world we've made of his creation.

Love is more than sex. Every mother knows that. But the increase in sexual abuse of children means shows that even parents are getting confused about it.

And love isn't soppy. Jesus loved his friends, but he turned his back on them when they tried to lead him astray. He wasn't a doormat. He practised what some people call Tough Love.

Love sometimes demands sacrifices. And God sacrificed his only Son so that we might be free of all the garbage in our lives. Have we got that sort of love?

Some people have. In the concentration camps they took the place of others in the gas ovens, because Jesus had shown them his example. That's tough love, if you like.

Most of us don't have to make such tough decisions, thank God. But we do have to decide whether we are going to accept his love. And love him back. That's all he asks of us.