During date night last night, I told my husband that I was still utterly “twitterpated.” You may recall that expression from the 1942 animated movie “Bambi.” In this Disney classic, Friend Owl explains to his little entourage of furry friends that, “…nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime.” That is to say, everyone falls hopelessly, head-over-heels in love.

Regardless when it happens, love is an incredibly wonderful, bewildering thing. When I married my soul mate, I loved him with all my heart. Now, twenty-two years later, I love him even more than I did then; and I have no doubt whatsoever that as time passes, I will love him a great deal more.

Truly, the heart’s capacity for love is ever-expanding!

And it is the “bond of perfection.”

Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.  Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:12-14).

The first time I  heard a pastor ask, “Are you in love with Jesus?” I just about fell over! It was obvious to me that this man was “twitterpated,” but I could not possibly consider my love for Jesus in that way –at least not in those early days of my faith. Yes, I loved Jesus Christ with my whole heart when I accepted Him as my personal LORD and Savior, but I really wasn’t comfortable saying that I was “in love” with the LORD back then. Over the years, however, the love that I had for Him grew in depth and understanding until I, too, was utterly twitterpated, and comfortable admitting so.

Additionally, I find that the more I love my LORD, Jesus Christ, the more I love people. And the more I love people, the more my capacity to love people expands.

Dear reader, it may be difficult for you to feel the same way. I understand the kinds of hurts that can cause us to cringe at the very thought of opening our hearts enough to love others. If so, I encourage you to start by letting Jesus love people through you. In time, you will find that you have begun to  love people, genuinely and sincerely. Again I say, the heart’s capacity for love is ever-expanding!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is Love (1Corinthians 13:13).