Love is Old School

Pastor Steve and Vanice Pinnick and family

By Pastor Steve Pinnick

Early on in my family I wanted to do everything "right."

This was a good desire, but it didn't take long to realize that I was going to make a lot of mistakes.

I needed something more than just being a good example and training my children properly.

I write this article with the realization of how blessed I am to have all my family saved and serving God.

Sometimes people ask Vanice and me, how did you do it? What is the key?

The truth is we don't know.

But we do know that in a family setting the arena of love is definitely old school.

As parents we have always strived to have our kids know two things above all else:

First and foremost that Jesus is Lord and should be served with all your heart.

But we also had a constant burning desire for our children to know they were loved.

I Peter 4:8 says: "Above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins."

If a child knows they are loved by their parents, this will create the best environment and soil for the gospel to bloom in their hearts.

You have heard the saying "you will never escape the long arm of the law.”

Well, it’s also my belief that you can never escape the long arm of love.

Even if a child strays from the things of God, the first thing they will see in this world is the absence of love.

I'm not saying that love doesn't exist outside of Christianity, but it is very rare.

Jesus spoke of the world in the last days and said Matthew 24:12 that “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold."

When a child grows up in an atmosphere of love, even if they stray, they will most often be drawn back to God and their families.

The thing that drew the prodigal son back to his father was his memory of the father’s house. He missed the love of his father and the glory of his father's house.

Sin could not compete with this.

I am not saying to leave out training and exampleship. That would be foolish.

Instead we need to strive to do all we do with love.

As I write this article, I have returned to being a full time evangelist. I did this in the past for six years, and one of the things I am most grateful for is my wife.

She has the perfect blend of steel in her soul and love in her heart.

She knows how to instruct and she knows how to love. Our family would be lost without her.

Even now with Wesley and Kara living outside our home (Ashley is still with us) – we are still connected through the flow of life.

The thing that keeps us connected today is the lordship of Jesus Christ and the love we have toward each other.

The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 13:1-8 about the importance of being sure that everything we do for God is saturated in love – that we’re not just doing it all out of some sense of duty.

This should be most evident in our homes.

One of the greatest things that can draw people to the gospel is love.

This new school world is seriously lacking in love.

Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke said: "I look with horror upon some of the promised technological breakthroughs which bring us closer to a life that is fully automated, imposing utter loneliness upon millions. People dread the stark loneliness of the cold, loveless, scientific future. It is as much a threat as the nuclear bomb."

As I end this article I want to say it's never too late to love.

If this has been a missing element in your home, start today – even if your children have grown and left home or you were saved later in life.

Sometimes we fear we will be rejected or it will not be well received.

Take the risk.

Our new school world is full of extreme sports and risk takers. Why don't we as God's people take the risk of love?

Paul said love never fails (I Corinthians 13:8).

There are a multitude of things you can do for your family in these days we live in, but I leave you with the two that will have the most impact:

Let them know Jesus is Lord. And let them know they are loved.