Love is extravagant. It simply knows no moderation! Love's size is in direct proportion to the need, and its shape bears a nature similar to that of an amoeba. It is unpredjudiced, unbiased, and unselfish. And, love is unafraid (I John 4:18). Love's exorbitancy can be seen nowhere any better than in the example of God -

He gave His only Son for a continuously rebellious and unworthy mankind (John 3:16,17; Romans 5:8).

Matthew 22:34-39; John 14:15 (I John 5:3); Matthew 5:43-48; and John 13:34,35, all together make for a profound love doctrine which is monumental in uniqueness, elaborate in coverage, and intricate in detail. It's a sturdy structure, embellished with beauty and awe, is able to withstand the onslaught of any of life's storms.

Love, however, must be more than a word described in abstracts and platitudes. It must be so practical that it is second nature-ish to us. It must be the dominant force in our lives. Love is to the Christian what an engine and boxcars are to a railroad company ... the very heart of the matter. It is better lived than talked about. We can wish it were present and demonstrated in the lives of others, but factually, our own personal love life is the only one about which we can do anything.

He who would be miserly with love is incapable of true love. There is never a transaction which involves a Christian of which love is not a part. We can do our brother no greater injustice than to refuse to love him. Love does not tire under the weight of discouragement and disappointment. It is never ill-spent ... it may be abused, rebuffed, or ignored, but, it is never ill-spent. To feel as if we have wasted our love is to count ourselves as a failure, or as an object of self-pity. Love is the barometer of one's spiritual life, for when there is a low level of love, there is a correspondingly low level of spirituality. For a fact, the very nature of love insists, yea, demands, that love be extravagant.

To say we love that which is good and right, yet when we have an occasion to do it, we do it not, is in reality not to love it. Love capacitates us to sense the hurt another knows. Love enables us to feel the shame of another's sin, for until we do, we'll write him off as worthless (Galatians 6:1,2). Love is reaching out to others, no matter! Extravagant? Yes!