Give Love, Get Love. What a concept right? Did you know it's scriptural... (we'll get to that later.)
This concept is one many of us don't operate in at times. We can get angry and resentful at the people we are close to because they did something or didn't do something.
... Whether it be from a spouse who is not loving you the way you'd like, or a girlfriend/boyfriend that's not treating you with the respect you desire or it could be the friend who seems to have fell off the face of the earth.
It happens to all of us, our feelings are hurt and then we either choose to get angry or we pretend to ignore it and let it percolate in our heads.
(Side note: **Men like to say they don't have these problems. They do, they just hide it better. Spend one night taking care of sick patients, men specifically, in the hospital and you'd see what I'm talking about. They always let out all their feelings to anyone willing to listen and I'm telling you men have ALOT of feelings. So just remember Women, if you ever hear a man say they don't have needs or don't have feelings just pretend to agree with them and deep down know that they're full of crap.)
The solution to it all is LOVE.
Don't you roll your eyes at me or think that its just a cliche. It might be a stereotyped expression but it's complete truth. You can tell me any situation, any problem, any hurt, any tear and I can show you how it all can be solved by LOVE.
Let me list a couple scriptures for you:
1 John 4:19- "We love Him, because he first loved us." (There is the Give Love, Get Love concept I was talking about. God knew He had to love us first to receive our love.)
1 John 4:19 (MSG version)- "We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first."
1 Corinthians 13:7, 8- " Love never gives up, Love believes all things, Love hopes all things, Love endures all things. Love never fails."
We ALL underestimate the power of love.
Let's talk about Marriages for a second. Unfortunately even in the church there is a high divorce rate. WHY??? Love. My friends, you cannot run out of love. No, love does not run out remember..."love never gives up, love endures all things." Divorce happens because people stop acting like love. That is why marriages end, why relationships stop, why friendships break, and why bridges are burned.
When you stop acting out in love you will lose every relationship you have!
Ask me how to make a marriage work... LOVE always, never stop acting like love, and when you are angry LOVE anyways.
You might ask..."What do you mean when I'm angry love anyways? I always love my spouse just because I'm angry doesn't mean I stopped loving them." Very true. Love is not a feeling though, at times it can 'feel' like a feeling but it is not. Love is a decision and love is an action. When we get angry we don't stop loving, most of the time we just stop acting like love. This is not just for marriages but for friendships, work relationships and every relationship you have.
...It could be the nasty chick that sits in the neighboring cubicle, or in my case, that annoying nurse that won't stop acting like she is the queen of the universe, it could be the cashier at your usual coffee shop that seems like the most rude person on earth. What happens then? We love. We love even though we feel like kicking them in the shins. We bring them coffee one day. We do them a favor, call them just to show you care, serve them in some way, do something they are supposed to do and not take the credit. When it's a sibling or a family member, make them dinner, take them out, do their laundry, buy them something. Just love.
Everyone would (in time) respond to us if we chose to love like that.
People who struggle with Psychosis disorder are the very most difficult people to relate to ever... simply because...well, they be crazy. However, even those people respond to acts of love. I have had the privilege of caring for Psych patients for quite sometime. I can't tell you how many patients that I've had that respond to me positively and only me. Why? Because even though they might be terribly annoying sometimes I chose to be caring, be patient and love them none the less.
Just know, I have yet to perfect this area myself. We all have room to grow in it, after all it is a "growth" process. What matters is that we all take action towards loving people more. When we do that we learn not only to love ourselves more (and we all need that!) but also we learn to love God more. I can't explain to you the science of how that happens I just know it does happen. Try it out and see!!
In closing, here is my version of the "Love Chapter" aka 1 Corinthians 13-
"God put his love into action by creating me. I have the ability to live free of fear, of sickness, and sin because of love. I can have all the faith in the world but without love I have nothing and I am nothing. When I love fully it means I do not give up. It means I put others before myself always. When I love fully it means I don't envy what I don't have. It means I don't pridefully walk around and boast of what I am or what I have. It means I am caring and kind always. When I love fully it means I do not keep record of anyones failures, it means I don't even revel in my own failures. When I love fully I am always in faith, I am always hopeful, I am always positive, and I have what it takes to endure through every circumstance. When I love fully the love in me never fails!"
Man, that makes me feel like my toes have just been stepped on. Ha. Like I said, it's a growth process.
No comments:
Post a Comment