Love Means Giving - Jacob

Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.

Genesis 29:20

Remember when you felt that flush of first love? There seemed nothing you wouldn’t do and no expense you wouldn’t incur just to draw near to the object of your affections. Your heart fluttered and your stomach turned to butterflies just at the thought of her!

True love has the power to transform burdens into almost nothing. No amount of time seems too long, no amount of effort too strenuous, and no expense too costly if these things make the one we love happy, healthy, and comfortable.

For a picture of self-sacrificing love, consider the story of Jacob and Rachel.

Jacob fell so deeply in love with Rachel that he would do anything to have her hand in marriage. This love story took place in a culture where a prospective bridegroom had to bring a costly gift or endowment to the male head of his beloved’s family. The problem was that Jacob had nothing to give Laban except time, and his future father-in-law exacted seven years’ worth.

You might think that those were the slowest seven years of Jacob’s life. Day after day he worked for Laban, longing for a glimpse of Rachel’s beauty. Yet the Bible says that for Jacob those years seemed like just a few days.

That is what real love does. When a man genuinely loves his wife, his children, and his God, even things that otherwise might seem burdensome become occasions of true joy because they accrue to the benefit of the ones he loves.

How would you describe your love for God? The Lord gives you the privilege of loving him in a joyful way, not as a burden. How can you best share that joy with those he has placed in your life? How can you give to them and love them today without regard for the cost to yourself?