I have been thinking about “love” a lot. I know I know…about
99.9% of my posts are on the subject…but…I happen to feel that it a pretty
important matter! And I will try not to repeat anything that I have said
before…I will TRY.
Not just romantic love, but just love in general. Whether it
be how much I am going to love my future husband, or how much I love my friends
and family, or just “love” in the sense of having an attitude of LOVE and
treating everyone with kindness.
Last Sunday, in church, was a pretty emotional time for me.
Lately, I have really been struggling with my heart, and the
kind of person that I really am. I have been praying and praying that God would
reveal to me what it is that has had me so “stuck” I guess you could say. I
knew there was something that just was not letting me be at peace with myself.
Until something happened, and I just instantly realized just how wicked my
heart truly is.
Jeremiah 17:9,“The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Mark 7:21, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come
evil thoughts…”
I want to believe that I am the best I can be. But
unfortunately…I know I am not. I am an extremely disgusting and wicked
person…or at least the “human nature” in me is.
I know basically everyone knows 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:
“Love is patient and
kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not
insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at
wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
There have been a few times in my life that I thought I was
“in love”…but looking back…I am not really sure that that has been true. In
fact…if I compare basically every relationship that I have had (romantic and
non) to 1 Corinthians…then unfortunately I am tempted to say that I have never
loved anyone. Ever.
Of course, that is a pretty drastic way of looking at
things…but aren’t we supposed to compare ourselves to Christ’s Word?
Don’t get me wrong, I KNOW that I love my friends and family
dearly! I am just simply making the point that I do not always show it…
I definitely know that I am NOT always patient and kind. And
at times, I am both envious and boastful, which leads to me being arrogant and
rude. And I am sure I have said before how much of a control freak I am, and
how I have to work extremely hard at not insisting that everything is my way.
And when things do not go my way, I often get irritable and resentful…
And so on and so forth…
But the person I just described…that is not who I am meant
to be in Christ. In Christ I am called to just love people. It’s as simple as
that. Just LOVE.
First and second Peter are full of Peter instructing his
readers to love one another with “brotherly love.”
Simple…?
Sure of course there are times when it is extremely
difficult to love someone, like when that person has hurt you and everything
inside of you just wants to lash out at them and hurt them in return…
Of course…afterwards…even though I may feel that my hurtful
words were appropriate…I still feel absolutely awful. Because no one deserves
that. No matter how much they have hurt me.
I have been realizing more and more lately that those times
when you want to show love to someone the least, those are probably the most
CRUCIAL times that you should show them love. You can’t grow if you are
allowing yourself to be complacent with who you are and how you feel…
I am constantly having to remind myself that my war is not
against other people. If there is something that I am struggling with,
concerning another person, it is more times than not because of something that
is inside of me. Sure, someone can say something that will truly hurt me…but in
the end…how much am I letting it affect me?
Am I replaying the words over and over again in my mind day
in and day out? Am I constantly mulling over the way it made me feel, causing
myself to become more and more hurt and bitter? Then, am I justifying that my
bitterness is completely called for because my judgment has been corrupted by
my pain? Or am I just placing my hope in Christ, trusting that He allows all
things to happen for a reason and He DOES NOT MAKE MISTAKES, and He most
certainly KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING?
It DOES NOT MATTER where the other person’s heart is at, or
how much they are hurting me (or you)…because most of the time they are only
doing hurtful things because they themselves are hurting…and I think once we understand
that, it will be a lot easier for us to be able to love them, despite their
actions.
Besides, God calls us, as Christians, to have community and
peace with one another.
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with
one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other;
as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put
on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” – Colossians
3:12-14
So this is my challenge to you, as well as to myself: just
LOVE people.
When someone has done something to hurt you…don’t retaliate
with more hurtful things…
When you see someone hurting…don’t ignore them and look the
other way…
When you are being asked to do something you really don’t
want to do…don’t blow that person off…
When you know there is something that you could do for
someone…don’t try to push what you know is right out of your mind…
When things aren’t exactly going your way…don’t become
bitter or resentful…
JUST LOVE.
Simple as that.
And I hope and pray, that one day, before Christ comes, or I
die and go to heaven (which ever comes first), I will be able to live “in
perfect harmony” with every Christian that I know. Whether I have hurt them or
been hurt by them. Whether I have been bitter or resentful towards them. I know
that Christ heals all things in time. And I just want to LOVE.
