I recently went on a ladies retreat and the theme was about Loving Well. My question to you is, "Are you loving more than you can?" During this 24 hour retreat it became obvious to me that I was not loving as well as I could--especially the people closest to me. You know who I'm talking about--my husband and my children. Unfortunately they are the ones who seem to get the "worst part."
God actually manifests himself through us when we love others. He also measures our maturity by how we love. In fact, we have no higher calling than to love. The bible is full of commands to love. Love your neighbor as yourself, love your wife, love your children, and yes, even love your enemies. Wow! Now that isn't easy to do, is it? I can see how we can love our family members and friends, but how on earth are we supposed to love our enemies?
What I learned at this retreat makes a whole lot of sense. We must experience God's ministering love to us first before we can minister love to others. Often we don't allow ourselves to fully embrace God's love for us and; therefore, we also keep ourselves from fully loving others. Simply put, we will not love well until we feel well loved. This is a pivotal point and the only way to receive it is to look to the cross. I am convinced that we will never be able to fully fathom God's love for us until we sincerely consider what Jesus endured for our sake. It should have been us hanging on that cross, not Jesus. It is our sin that put him there, and he willingly took the penalty for us. It was love that kept him there. He knew we would be eternally lost if he didn't die for us. We must let this truth seep into the deepest crevices of our hearts--"God loves us with an everlasting love." Until we acknowledge and experience this love, we will never be able to love others well. Love is part of God's Godness. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you anymore or any less. Furthermore, it is not about feelings or emotions. Do you think Jesus wanted to be tortured and crucified? He even sweat drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane as he thought about his impending death. We must remember that our feelings are fickle. One day we love, the next we don't feel like it. To love involves making a Choice.
I'm not saying that to love is always easy. In fact, it can be rather difficult at times. Let's face it--not everyone is a joy to be around. Many of the people we can come in contact with every single day are downright difficult to love. Yet God also lets us experience sparks of divine love in others. We are called to love all people in spite of the fact that some may be more difficult to love than others. Usually there is something broken in the person who is so hard to get along with. Ask God to give you insight into what that could be and then commit to praying for them. Love them in their brokenness. Extend grace and never underestimate the power of forgiveness or an apology. Remember that God will call us to see "hard love" as a sacrifice unto him and a fragrant offering upon the altar. He will transform us in the process and grow our love in ways we cannot even imagine!
We are also called to love beyond our own "little bubble." What is God doing across the globe? Who is out of your radar screen? We are to love the stranger too, you know. The interesting thing is, it is not just for their benefit, but for ours too. Take time to stop, pause, and minister to strangers. It is our opportunity to love with no strings attached. Loving afar relieves us of the burden of self-absorption. Pour your life completely into others' lives and then watch what happens.
I think the key here is to abide, dwell, and remain in a constant awareness of God's love for us. So, let's start loving because we are already divinely loved. Even though we have an insatiable desire to receive love from others, we are not to be motivated to love just to get something out of it. We know that people fail us time and time again--they're human. Only God can love us unconditionally and perfectly. He pours His perfect love into our imperfect hearts and enables us to love too. If we access His perfect love, we will be able to love anyone through anything. He promises that. The intangible blessings we receive from loving others will far outweigh any tangible gift. We will truly be storing up our treasures in Heaven.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:7-9
God actually manifests himself through us when we love others. He also measures our maturity by how we love. In fact, we have no higher calling than to love. The bible is full of commands to love. Love your neighbor as yourself, love your wife, love your children, and yes, even love your enemies. Wow! Now that isn't easy to do, is it? I can see how we can love our family members and friends, but how on earth are we supposed to love our enemies?
What I learned at this retreat makes a whole lot of sense. We must experience God's ministering love to us first before we can minister love to others. Often we don't allow ourselves to fully embrace God's love for us and; therefore, we also keep ourselves from fully loving others. Simply put, we will not love well until we feel well loved. This is a pivotal point and the only way to receive it is to look to the cross. I am convinced that we will never be able to fully fathom God's love for us until we sincerely consider what Jesus endured for our sake. It should have been us hanging on that cross, not Jesus. It is our sin that put him there, and he willingly took the penalty for us. It was love that kept him there. He knew we would be eternally lost if he didn't die for us. We must let this truth seep into the deepest crevices of our hearts--"God loves us with an everlasting love." Until we acknowledge and experience this love, we will never be able to love others well. Love is part of God's Godness. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you anymore or any less. Furthermore, it is not about feelings or emotions. Do you think Jesus wanted to be tortured and crucified? He even sweat drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane as he thought about his impending death. We must remember that our feelings are fickle. One day we love, the next we don't feel like it. To love involves making a Choice.
I'm not saying that to love is always easy. In fact, it can be rather difficult at times. Let's face it--not everyone is a joy to be around. Many of the people we can come in contact with every single day are downright difficult to love. Yet God also lets us experience sparks of divine love in others. We are called to love all people in spite of the fact that some may be more difficult to love than others. Usually there is something broken in the person who is so hard to get along with. Ask God to give you insight into what that could be and then commit to praying for them. Love them in their brokenness. Extend grace and never underestimate the power of forgiveness or an apology. Remember that God will call us to see "hard love" as a sacrifice unto him and a fragrant offering upon the altar. He will transform us in the process and grow our love in ways we cannot even imagine!
We are also called to love beyond our own "little bubble." What is God doing across the globe? Who is out of your radar screen? We are to love the stranger too, you know. The interesting thing is, it is not just for their benefit, but for ours too. Take time to stop, pause, and minister to strangers. It is our opportunity to love with no strings attached. Loving afar relieves us of the burden of self-absorption. Pour your life completely into others' lives and then watch what happens.
I think the key here is to abide, dwell, and remain in a constant awareness of God's love for us. So, let's start loving because we are already divinely loved. Even though we have an insatiable desire to receive love from others, we are not to be motivated to love just to get something out of it. We know that people fail us time and time again--they're human. Only God can love us unconditionally and perfectly. He pours His perfect love into our imperfect hearts and enables us to love too. If we access His perfect love, we will be able to love anyone through anything. He promises that. The intangible blessings we receive from loving others will far outweigh any tangible gift. We will truly be storing up our treasures in Heaven.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:7-9
1 comment:
Loved both your entries. Thanks for challenging all of us to love as a choice not just when we feel like it. Blessings! Keep up the great writing!
Post a Comment