We’ve reached February, the month of love. The older I get the more I realize that love has many meanings. Take this letter for example:
Dearest Jimmy,
No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you!
Yours forever, Marie.
P.S., And congratulations on willing the state lottery.
They say love is blind. I wonder what kind of eyesight Jimmy has.
C.S. Lewis gives us food for thought on loving God. He states,
“On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for Him.”
I find the same is true for loving our neighbor as ourselves. It is much easier to love ourselves than our neighbor. And yet, God commands that we love Him and others. Honestly, this is one of the hardest commands to follow. What’s the source of our failure? Would God actually command us to do something and not provide a way of success?
Of course, not!
The problem is we haven’t learned to rely on His provision. It’s only natural to love those who love us, but it takes super-natural power to love the unlovely. We may not be able to love the sandpaper people in our lives—you know—those who rub us the wrong way. But Christ in us can! Our nature is unable, but Christ in is us is more than able. We just need to yield to His nature in us. However, some of us rather “act” or “pretend” to love others than to actually experience God’s supernatural power at work in them. Why? For the life me I don’t know.
This I do know. Our heart follows our action. If you and I will choose to love, eventually our heart will follow and we will actually love that person we once disliked. On the other hand, the same is true if you are hateful to someone you dislike, you’ll find your heart disliking them more.
Micca Campbell-Helping Women Live Carefree in God’s Care
Micca,
Thanks for sharing your love and concern with me by recently stopping by my blog.
Physical health wise I am getting much better. But realize that I have become stretched thin when it comes to emotional and spiritual health – hence why I am taking a spiritual retreat this month!
Thanks for your love and concern! It touched my heart.
Blessings,
Pearls
I wish every young couple understood the principle of "feelings following actions."
One of the most important things my dad taught me was that he didn't wake up every morning feeling "in love" with my mom. He is married because he made a commitment. As a young starry eyed teenager I was disappointed but wiser.
I clutch tight to my faith when I testify to the teens in our church about my sexual abuse and hardships during my childhood at home starting at age 4 but I really clutch tight to my faith when I testify to the adults in churches as I know as sure as I am standing there that I am testifying to the ears of at least one abuser in that crowd and I want them to know they can overcome the sin of it and hurt of it with the help of God and that it must stop NOW. It is God who strengthens me.