the essence of a man: love God. love people.

love God. love people.

that is the essence of why we're here on earth. and as men, if we ever want to be real men as God intended us to be, we'd better focus all our energies on those 2 pursuits: loving God and loving people.

how simple does it get? i didn't say easy, because these are probably the 2 most difficult things to do...scratch that...actually, loving God and loving people are IMPOSSIBLE tasks for men. simple concept to understand, but it's impossible for us to accomplish. we need the power of the Spirit of God living inside of us enabling us to even pursue both purposes.

in my own strength i can never love God.

and if i can't love God, i certainly can't love people.

God is LOVE, and only THROUGH Him can i love Him. and according to 1 John, the evidence that i truly love God is that i love people. which is really just a round-about way of saying that God's love is in me.

i saw this love in my friend, kurt glancy. it was his legacy. he was a quiet, godly pastor who modeled love for his family, his church and his community. he cared about people. but now that i think about it. it wasn't just his legacy. it's God's legacy of love that shown brightly through kurt's life. he went home to be with the LORD this week. but what a legacy and lesson he has left behind.

love.

that's the essence of a man. and it's only found in a life lived in God!