Lovely About Life people,

You may have noticed Jane Austen has been everywhere over the last couple of months. Inspiration hit me. I thought it’s summer, sort of, and its blockbuster movie time. I got a bit Austen Powered about this verse …..

Phil 1 vs 9-11 (The Message)
So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

So, firstly, will your love flourish so that ‘you will not only love much but well.’

Jane Austen’s novels are essentially lessons in learning to love and learning to love well. Her books are about love in its entirety, be it loving your family, friends, life, enemies, work, and of course romantic love. They are chronicles of how the journey of love goes well and flourishes or slips away. Sounds a bit like the Bible don’t you think. The Israelites in the wilderness, Song of Songs, Joseph and the ultimate love of Jesus. This verse encourages us to go back to what Jesus and God wanted for us. To love as they love us. The writer of Philippians is calling us to experience the fullness of love, so we are enabled to love more fully.

Furthermore, Jane Austen’s love for her craft is poured out through each page of her novels. Austen loved much and loved well her gift of writing. The result - her work is loved not only much but well. In order to write with authenticity, insight is required. You need some knowledge about what you are writing about. Austen seems to have learned a lot about love on her life’s journey. God knows all about the joy and pain of love. Losing his son to an evil world. The joy of seeing our love for him when we really worship or each time a new person says yes to Christ.

We must love those God has put in our path whether we like them or not.  No strings attached. The job we do is what God has planned for that season. Where we are, is where we need to be, like it or not. The talent God has given each one of us is to be used for his glory, for the benefit of others and to make us grow as individuals. The hard part is working out that talent. Sharing it for God’s glory, not our fame. As a singer, I know all about that.

Primarily though, our work as Christians is to love God well, so others can love him much, by what they see in us. The fruits of the soul are righteousness, peace and joy. Things the world is hungry for, attracted to. Things that our loving God has given us and inspires in us. The fruit for God is that we end up ‘making Jesus attractive, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.’

Learning to love appropriately
So much pain comes from not loving appropriately. We spend a life time recovering from broken hearts caused by friends, family, colleagues, and lovers. No need to say too much more about that, except thank God for the healing power of the holy spirit and that he binds up the broken hearted.

The strongest condemnation in Austen’s novels is reserved for those who love money, status and social standing at the expense of everything else. Jesus also reserved some of his strongest disapproval for those who love money and power above all other things. Not much has changed.

However, now more than ever, we need to look at how appropriate our love of money, career, comfort, looks etc is. Technology has made this global village very small and these things have far reaching consequences.

Mike Pilavachi from Soul Survivor, poured his heart out at a recent Worship Central, calling us to raise up humble, gentle, kind hearted leaders. Not leaders who are chosen because they have talent, good looks and will sell books and CD’s. It’s all about the heart, not all about ‘me’. Out of our mouth is the overflow of our heart. Out of our heart spring our actions.

Is God’s love what fills our heart? Do our actions spring from that love? Do we love God appropriately, as well as each other appropriately? Love God and love your neighbour is the number one requirement of the saints.

It’s hard to love unconditionally and instinctively. Perhaps if we humble ourselves and learn to expect nothing in return, maybe we can really learn to love truly. That’s what Jesus did and would have us do. Not easy though. We might save ourselves some heartache too.
 
Austen Powered – Part Deux (Vivre l’amour) will be coming to an About Life blog near you soon….