A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God's Love [Paperback]

Max Lucado (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2006

Low on Love?

Finding it hard to love? Someone in your world is hard to forgive? Is patience an endangered species? Kindness a forgotten virtue? If so, you may have forgotten a step -- an essential first step. Living loved.

God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately. Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded. He loves you with an unfailing love. And his love -- if you let it -- can fill you and leave you with a love worth giving.

Editorial Reviews

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 12

A Cloak of Love

Love . . . always protects.

1 Corinthians 13:6-7 niv

We hide. He seeks. We bring sin. He brings a sacrifice. We try fig leaves. He brings the robe of righteousness. And we are left to sing the song of the prophet: "He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness, like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding like a bride dressed in jewels" (Isa. 61:10).

In the 1930s, Joe Wise was a young, single resident at Cook Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. Patients called him the "doctor with the rose." He made them smile by pinning a flower from bedside bouquets on his lab coat.

Madge, however, needed more than a smile. The automobile accident had left her leg nearly severed at the knee. She was young, beautiful, and very much afraid. When Joe spotted her in the ER, he did something he'd never done before.

Joe took his lab coat, bejeweled with the rose, and placed it gently over the young woman. As she was wheeled into the operating room, the coat was removed, but she asked to keep the flower. When she awoke from surgery, it was still in her hand.

When I tell you that Madge never forgot Joe, you won't be surprised. When I tell you how she thanked him, you very well may be.

But before we finish the story of Joe's cloak, could I ask you to think about your own? Do you own a cloak of love? Do you know anyone who needs one? When you cover someone with concern, you are fulfilling what Paul had in mind when he wrote the phrase "love . . . always protects" (1 Cor. 13:4-7 niv).

Paul employed a rich word here. Its root meaning is "to cover or conceal." Its cousins on the noun side of the family are roof and shelter. When Paul said, "Love always protects," he might have been thinking of the shade of a tree or the refuge of a house. He might even have been thinking of a coat. One scholar thinks he was. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament is known for its word study, not its poetry. But the scholar sounds poetic as he explains the meaning of protect as used in 1 Corinthians 13:7. The word conveys, he says, "the idea of covering with a cloak of love."1

Remember receiving one? You were nervous about the test, but the teacher stayed late to help you. You were far from home and afraid, but your mother phoned to comfort you. You were innocent and accused, so your friend stood to defend you. Covered with encouragement. Covered with tender-hearted care. Covered with protection. Covered with a cloak of love.

Your finest cloak of love, however, came from God. Never thought of your Creator as a clothier? Adam and Eve did.

Every clothing store in the world owes its existence to Adam and Eve. Ironing boards, closets, hangers-all trace their ancestry back to the Garden of Eden. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they needed no clothing; after they sinned, they couldn't get dressed fast enough. They hid in the bushes and set about the task of making a wardrobe out of fig leaves.

They craved protection. Well they should have. They knew the consequences of their mistake. God had warned them, "You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not even touch it, or you will die" (Gen. 3:3).

Of course the one tree they were told not to touch was the one they couldn't resist, and the fruit of the tree became a doorknob that, once pulled, permitted a slew of unwanted consequences to enter.

One of which was shame. Adam and Eve had felt no shame. Then they felt nothing but. Hence they hid, and hence they sewed, but the covering was insufficient. What is a grove of trees to the eyes of God? What protection is found in a fig leaf?

Adam and Eve found themselves, like Madge, vulnerable on a gurney-wounded, not by a car, but by their own sin.

But what would God do? Had he not announced his judgment? Hadn't his law been broken? Didn't justice demand their death? Is he not righteous?

But, we are quick to counter, is God not love? And weren't Adam and Eve his children? Could his mercy override his justice? Is there some way that righteousness can coexist with kindness?

According to Genesis 3:21 it can. The verse has been called the first gospel sermon. Preached not by preachers, but by God himself. Not with words, but with symbol and action. You want to see how God responds to our sin?

"The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them" (Gen. 3:21).

The mystery behind those words! Read them again, and try to envision the moment.

"The Lord God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them."

That simple sentence suggests three powerful scenes.

Scene 1: God slays an animal. For the first time in the history of the earth, dirt is stained with blood. Innocent blood. The beast committed no sin. The creature did not deserve to die.

Adam and Eve did. The couple deserve to die, but they live. The animal deserves to live, but it dies. In scene 1, innocent blood is shed.

Scene 2: Clothing is made. The shaper of the stars now becomes a tailor.

And in Scene 3: God dresses them. "The Lord . . . dressed them."

Oh, for a glimpse of that moment. Adam and Eve are on their way out of the garden. They've been told to leave, but now God tells them to stop. "Those fig leaves," he says, shaking his head, "will never do." And he produces some clothing. But he doesn't throw the garments at their feet and tell them to get dressed. He dresses them himself. "Hold still, Adam. Let's see how this fits." As a mother would dress a toddler. As a father would zip up the jacket of a preschooler. As a physician would place a lab coat over a frightened girl. God covers them. He protects them.

Love always protects.

Hasn't he done the same for us? We eat our share of forbidden fruit. We say what we shouldn't say. Go where we shouldn't go. Pluck fruit from trees we shouldn't touch.

And when we do, the door opens, and the shame tumbles in. And we hide. We sew fig leaves. Flimsy excuses. See-through justifications. We cover ourselves in good works and good deeds, but one gust of the wind of truth, and we are naked again-stark naked in our own failure.

So what does God do? Exactly what he did for our parents in the garden. He sheds innocent blood. He offers the life of his Son. And from the scene of the sacrifice the Father takes a robe-not the skin of an animal-but the robe of righteousness. And does he throw it in our direction and tell us to shape up? No, he dresses us himself. He dresses us with himself. "You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ" (Gal. 3:26-27).

The robing is his work, not ours. Did you note the inactivity of Adam and Eve? They did nothing. Absolutely nothing. They didn't request the sacrifice; they didn't think of the sacrifice; they didn't even dress themselves. They were passive in the process. So are we. "You have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. God has made us what we are" (Eph. 2:8-10).

We hide. He seeks. We bring sin. He brings a sacrifice. We try fig leaves. He brings the robe of righteousness. And we are left to sing the song of the prophet: "He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness, like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding, like a bride dressed in jewels" (Isa. 61:10).

God has clothed us. He protects us with a cloak of love. Can you look back over your life and see instances of God's protection? I can too. My junior year in college I was fascinated by a movement of Christians several thousand miles from my campus. Some of my friends decided to spend the summer at the movement's largest church and be discipled. When I tried to do the same, every door closed. Problem after problem with finances, logistics, and travel.

A second opportunity surfaced: spending a summer in Brazil. In this case, every door I knocked on swung open. Two and one half decades later I see how God protected me. The movement has become a cult-dangerous and oppressive. Time in Brazil introduced me to grace-freeing and joyful. Did God protect me? Does God protect us?

Does he do for us what he did for the woman caught in adultery? He protected her from the stones. And his disciples? He protected them from the storm. And the demoniac? He protected him from hell itself. Why, Jesus even protected Peter from the tax collectors by providing a tax payment.

And you? Did he keep you from a bad relationship? Protect you from the wrong job? Insulate you from _______________ (you fill in the blank)? "Like hovering birds, so will [the Lord Almighty] protect Jerusalem" (Isa. 31:5 jb). "He will strengthen and protect you" (2 Thess. 3:3 niv). "He will command his angels . . . to guard you" (Ps. 91:11 niv). God protects you with a cloak of love.

Wouldn't you love to do the same for him? What if you were given the privilege of Mary? What if God himself were placed in your arms as a naked baby? Would you not do what she did? "She wrapped the baby with pieces of cloth" (Luke 2:7).

The baby Jesus, still wet from the womb, was cold and chilled. So this mother did what any mother would do; she did what love does: She covered him.

Three decades later another lover of Christ did the same. This time the body of Jesus wasn't cold from the chill; it was cold from death. Joseph of Arimathea had it lowered from the cross. Just as Mary cleansed the child from the womb, Joseph prepared the Savior for the tomb. He washed the spit from the face and sponged the blood from the beard. "Then Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth" (Matt. 27:59).

Mary dressed the baby. Joseph cleansed the body.

Wouldn't you cherish an opportunity to do the same? You have one. Such opportunities come y...

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: W. Publishing Group (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849913462
• ISBN-13: 978-0849913464
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,999 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

In just under two decades of writing, Max Lucado has accomplished more than most writers hope for in a lifetime. Most of his books have appeared on one or more best seller lists, including those published by the "New York Times," "USA Today," "Publishers Weekly," and the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA). Aside from hardcover books, Lucado's writings have also been published as children's books, videos, CD-ROMs, DVDs, music CDs, mass paperback booklets, apparel, giftware, bookmarks, calendars, study Bibles, workbooks, curricula, and plush products. In spring 2003, Hallmark/Dayspring Cards launched a new gift card line featuring excerpts from Lucado's writings--and has already sold more than one million cards.

All this success has drawn more than a little attention to a previously low-profile Texas author and minister. Lucado has been featured in a wide range of media, including "USA Today," "Larry King Live," and "NBC Nightly News." He has spoken at the National Prayer Breakfast before the President of the United States. He has traveled with internationally renowned musicians as a special speaker on their music tours, such as the highly successful "Come Together & Worship Tour" (sponsored by Chevrolet) with Grammy Award-winning artists Michael W. Smith and Third Day.

Journey to the Top
Lucado was born in 1955 in San Angelo, Texas, and raised in Andrews, Texas, the youngest of four children. His father was an Exxon oil field mechanic who, Lucado remembers, always smelled of grease cleaner. "It makes it easy for me to see a God who is loving and kind--because my dad was," he says. His mother was a nurse who grew up working in the cotton fields.

Lucado went through a period of rebellion against his parents' values and their God during his teens and into college. But it wasn't long before he found himself drawn back to his roots, back to God. He married, spent time serving as a missionary in Brazil, and returned to the States, where he began working as a church minister and writing on the side.

Secret to Success
From all accounts, Max Lucado is not a man consumed by sales, awards, and achievements. He often turns down media interviews since they impede on family and ministry commitments. He spends the bulk of his week serving as senior minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. And he is truly surprised by his own success--more impressed by his one-in-a-million wife and three amazing daughters than by his successful writing career.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An honest and direct presentation of a great subject!, December 27, 2002

By 

Michael Erisman (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God's Love (Hardcover)

I always enjoy Max Lucado's literary style and approach. His writing reads like a friendly conversation and while the material is often presented as an admonishment, because of the tone one is never left feeling judged but rather encouraged.

The best sections were those on selfishness and our inability to get out of our self to truly love others. I enjoyed the way he weaves in personal examples of his own struggles, those daily little things that set us off on ego-centric benders, with instructions of God's example of what true love for others looks like.

Like all his work, the only complaint is that the book is too short. The topics are weighty and deserve more devoted analysis. He seems to be unsure of whether he is writing a quick and simple devotional or an in depth study. However, it is a quick and enjoyable read.

A final thought on the content. If you have struggled with selfishness or any of the other human traits which keep us focused on self, not on God and others, you may be shocked to see how clearly your own behaviors are called out. All of us are far more transparent that we would like to think, and this book showed me just how I fall short, and challenged me to strive for something more.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Live Loved in the Overflow of God's Love, July 18, 2003

By 

shoutgrace "savedbyhisgrace" (Charleston, WV United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God's Love (Hardcover)

We Love, because He (Jesus) first loved us. John 4:19

Have you ever tried to Love someone who was difficult to Love? It's not so easy. Has there been a time you had married the wrong spouse, got into the wrong career, or got mixed up with the wrong friends. There's one guarantee that you'll get it right is the One who has unconditional Love gives you a Life-Eternally in a world much better than this life. The first step to true love is not towards otheres but towards Him. Besides you can't give what you don't have. We've forgotten the first step for relationships. The secret-living Loved. It can't be found in marriage or friendship. If you're running low on Love, had your last dose of forgiveness, hit rock bottom on patience. If you tried to give what you haven't received why not try this book to help you receive it.

Lucado takes the best loved scripture, I Corinthians 13 one step at a time. He expands on all the characteristics of Love into the infinite, measureless boundaries of God's Love. If we were to be reminded of how we should or could Love just like Jesus. Taking it one step at a time. Beginning with patience, then kindness all the way to enduring all things where Love NEVER Fails. Rather then a scripture to remind us of Love we can't produce, let it remind us of a Love we cannot resist-God's Love. When you were left at the altar, with a broken heart, an empty bed, broken home, in the hospital. When you're left to say, "Does anybody love me?" Listen to heaven's answer. God loves you. His Love is Personal. With all the Power and Passion He can give. Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded. He loves you with an unfailing love. His Love-if you will let it-can fill you and leave you with a Love worth giving. If anyone is thirsty for His Love--I recommend this!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Max's Best, October 8, 2002

By 

Amber E. Gulmatico "thepursued" (Tacoma, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God's Love (Hardcover)

Max's lastest book is one of the best he has written. This book not only speaks of how we can love people no matter what, but goes through the life of Christ and show us how He loved us first. It makes loving anyone seem possible. I walked away amazed at how much Christ loved me and how I wanted to share that with others. Having only had this book less than a month I have already loaned it to my pastor and to a person who is trying to figure out who this Christ-person is.
The thing that Max does so well is he puts even simple Christian theology into physical ideas that make you understand and remember them. This is exactly what he does with this book. He takes 1 Corinthians 13 (The Love Chapter) walks through every quality giving a definition of the quality, an example of Christ's performance of the quality, and how you and I can recieve THEN give this quality to others.
If you are searching for a way to understand Christ's love, this is a great book. If you are searching for how to love someone more, better, or for the first time, this is a great book. If you just want to read another of Max's masterpieces, this is a great book. Keep on writing Max...you haven't lost the touch yet!