Time and Love

How do you express your love for someone or something? Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose Driven Life, says, “The best expression of love is time”. I want to share a brief passage with you from Chapter 16 of his book. It is titled “What matters most.” In this chapter you find these words:

“The importance of things can be measured by how much time we are willing to invest in them. The more time you give to something, the more you reveal its importance and value to you. If you want to know a person’s priorities, just look at how they use their time. Time is your most precious gift because you only have a set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t make more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
It is not enough just to say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless. 1 John 3:18 says, “My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action (NLT). Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is “T-I-M-E.”

The final paragraph of the chapter really gives us something to think about. He says: “Knowing that one day you will stand before God, here are some questions you need to consider: How will you explain those times when projects or things were more important to you than people? Who do you need to start spending more time with? What do you need to cut out of your schedule to make that possible? What sacrifices do you need to make? The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.”