First and foremost, we are each loved by the Lord, our
God. John 3:16 tells us straight up “For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes
in his shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” As a mom, I can tell you that giving your
child (let alone your ONLY child) to die for the good of others is love in its
most pure and magnificent definition. As
humans—being of flesh, bone and blood—we are sinners. We are evil doers and should be considered
the scum of the earth. The dirt on the
bottom of an old sneaker. We are selfish creatures of habit. We are greedy and care not how our actions
affect those around us.
But when Jesus Christ, Son of God, was crucified, we were
allowed to live. “The wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”
(Romans 6:23). It’s astounding! God loves us SO much that he gave his Son to
die for our sins. I just can’t get over
how amazing that love is. And what do we
do to repay Him? We continue to fulfill
our worldly desires—those of the flesh.
And it’s pointless to do so really because when we die (and we will) we
don’t take our flesh with us. What we
take when we die is our spirit. I’ve
been told by a good friend on more than one occasion that “it’s not me who
does/says these things. It is the spirit
of God in me. He is working through me.” That’s not an exact quote but it sums it up
pretty well. If the spirit of God does
indeed dwell in us, then my body is not my own—It belongs to my Father in
heaven. And I like it that way. I prefer it that way.
But anyway, back to His love for us. All we have to do is confess our sins and be
truly genuinely sorry and act better in the future. We have to accept Him as our Lord and Savior
and all is forgiven. And ps, Jesus doesn’t
keep a record of our wrong doings. Once
we are forgiven, we are born anew. We
have a clean slate to start over and work to fulfill His desire. So, just give up trying to run your own life
and trying to be in control of yourself.
You’ll continue to suffer….
Now, onto those pesky little relationships we are all
striving to find. I’ve been through it
myself. I’ve been down that road of “Oh
I just want to love and be loved” or “all I want is someone to share my life
with….” Yea, that was me at one
point. Until I realized that I’m never
going to find the love I desire in another human being until I discover and
appreciate the love of God! Once I am
satisfied with the love He has given me, and I am focused on Him rather than on
earthly desires, I will experience that love. And not until then. In God’s own timing of course, because let’s
face facts… my timing typically sucks anyway lol!
So let’s say we are satisfied with the love of our God. How do we know when we have found true
love? That’s a simple one. For that, you need only to refer to your
Bible. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 says this
about love: “Love is patient, love is
kind. It does not envy, it does not
boast, it is not proud. It is not rude,
it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always protects,
always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails…” It’s right
there! That’s all you need to know to
figure out if you have found true love or not.
If your relationship does not have these qualities, it’s not love. I’m telling you from experience, it’s better
to wait around for true love than to give yourself to something less. Any relationship worth having is one with God
at its center. That being said, if your
interest is in a non-believer, it is not true love and can only lead to
heartache and trouble.
I could probably go on for days about this stuff, but seeing
as how I do have work and class in the morning, I will let it be for now. I certainly hope this helps some of you out
there. Always remember, God is
love. If you don’t have God, you don’t
have love.
Beautiful thoughts!!
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