They hurt my ears yesterday at the breakfast table. Well, my ears and my heart. My kids bicker. They’re young, close in age, and they each have a strong opinion about…ev.ery.thang. Lord, help me.
We only have one rule in our house, “Love. Up and out.” Love God, love one another, and love the world. “Up and out.” Seems simple enough. But the bickering. Ugh. Let’s just say I have plenty of opportunities to remind them of their need for a Savior.
“Blessing comes when we let Him love through us.” (my mantra)
flickr photo credit: daniel e. bruce
So at breakfast I decided to help stop the bickering cycle by having them share one thing they love about each other. Because if we choose to fill our minds with true (love) things, then love will more likely spill out.*
And though their responses made me smile, they also reminded me of their childishness. I mean. They are children. All of their answers centered around what they got from each relationship, “I love that she gives me stuff.” Great. Good.
But that’s not the kind of love our God offers us. And it’s not the kind of love He calls us to give.
We get it all twisted. It’s “easy” to turn away from those who don’t do anything for us. To close the door on relationships where we give and never receive. And sure there are times when He leads us to walk away.
But too often, selfishness drive us — just like it drives my young ones. We “love” the people who love us first. We pray for and lift those who “give us stuff”. But that’s not God’s kind of love.
God doesn’t need us. He doesn’t love us because of what we can do for Him. He loves because He is love. (1 John 4:16) He embodies love. He defines love.
His love dies for those who take a hammer and nail to His wrist. His love exists free from man’s actions. His love is. It just is. And it’s regardless of what we do.
It’s called grace. And it’s the kind of love He willingly enables us to pour out, if we die to self.
People will hurt us, use us, and be plain mean. And we’ll do the same to them. But the freedom Christ promised comes in the release. We release people from our expectation that they love us perfectly, or at all. We release and then abide in the perfect love of our God.
Sometimes others will only take from us — steal from our hearts and stomp on our sacrifice. But “they” do not determine our love. The Source of true love is our Maker. By the power of His Spirit we can love — truly love — the unlovely, just as God loves us.
Fill me, Lord…
Is God calling you to truly love someone who isn’t all that loveable?
How do we do it? How do we love like Jesus loves?
* For the record, this was one decent mommy-moment followed by five or six other not-so-decent mommy moments. I rest fully in God’s grace to draw my kids to Himself. I am hopeless without Him.
oh friend, have i got a lotz to say about this! God IS calling me to love someone who, by all accounts of the world, deserves no one’s love. but He’s shown me when i let Him love through me, all i’m really doing is pointing the unlovable towards the only Love that matters.
how to do it? it’s not easy!! my motto for the last year has been, “i’m not giving any less than what’s been given to me on the Cross.”
love to you sweet friend!
I know that road well, sweet sister. I also know that He is working in and through you a testimony of His faithfulness. He will absolutely bless the choice to love regardless. He promised. xoxo
Again and as always, you speak directly to my heart. Thank you for this reminder. I so desperately want to be like Him, but in all honesty, there are days when it’s hard.
Yes, Hope, it is hard. In fact, it’s death to self. Complete sacrifice. But we both know the reward of His fulness and soul-blessing outweighs any sacrifice we could possibly offer. Much love to you, friend.
Amen. Love is the hardest of commandments that our Lord asks of us. It’s hard because we don’t “feel” it. But, commandments aren’t to be “felt”, but obeyed. In our house, we too, discuss this frequently. “We love because HE loves us” is our mantra. I love my “unloveable” because God loves me. There is no better reason.
Amen. That’s all I’ve got to say.