Love. How does your life characterize love? Before diving into chapter one of "Crazy Love" I wanted to take time to reflect on what love means to me. How did I, do I and will I define love after this journey with each of you?
We have all had a concept of what love is. But do we truly understand what love looks like? As a young child I would often hear "God is love" And as the years went by I took that statement for granted. And God's love was put on a shelf and I allowed Him to gather dust. I started a journey, on my own, to discover and create my own definition of the characteristics of "love". I have to say I did some awful things and called it "love". All of the things that I called "love" were self gratifying, self seeking and self indulgent. I might have twisted things to make it appear that I was being selfless. But, all the while, I was seeking things that made me feel good. And if it started to not feel good anymore I took another avenue to find "love".
Tomorrow my boyfriend, a.k.a. husband, and I will celebrate the anniversary of our wedding. I remember this day like it was just yesterday. There were a multitude of emotions running rapid. We were not only marrying each other. We were blending two very unique families together. And each one of us had our own expectations. The five kids were feeling nervous, confused, overwhelmed and guarded. And I am pretty certain that Greg and I were feeling a bit overwhelmed too. We were all about to take a journey. It was evident that we would all have to sacrifice a bit and learn to love each other. And this would take time, patients and a ton of energy.
I remember one day, a few years back, I had this profound moment. It was time for me to take God off the shelf and dust Him off. I realized, early on in my marriage, that I needed all the love He was willing to shower on me. God clearly wanted me to understand unconditional love.
I was given three children to love and learn from since the moment of their conception. And through marriage He blessed me with the gift of two inherited daughters. Initially I thought this was going to be a "piece of cake". But it turned out to be more like climbing an ice covered hill. Don't get me wrong. We certainly have made lots of progress. And as the seasons of our live changed, and by God's amazing grace, that hill melted and beautiful things began to happen. These two young women taught me that to truly love someone you need to persevere. This statement is true of God's relentless love for us. We are His inherited children. And I praise Him for allowing me to be filled with His grace. And through my faith and trust in Him I have learned, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to love my family in a not so self gratifying way. But instead to be more like Him and love my family in a selfless way. ,Because God is Love!
In the past 2 weeks, while continuing with the #loveletters "homework" from Pastor Ross, I tripped over 1 John 4:16, several times. "God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God and God abides in him". Over the next week, as you read the first chapter of "Crazy Love", I encourage you to seek God's definition of love that speaks to you . Find 6 "love" verses in scripture and write them down. Tape them on a wall, a coffee mugs, a chip bag or a mirror. Just make sure they are in places you look at on a daily basis. I myself plan on jotting this one down,(as it truly is the verse that helped me in learning to love my family on another level) 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8; " Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
Pretty powerful verse. I have often taken "love" out and replace it with my name. And honestly it has, on more than one occasion, saved me from seeking my definition of love. Kathleen is patient, Kathleen is kind. She does not envy, she does not boast, she is not proud. She does not dishonor others, she is not self seeking, she is not easily angered, she keeps no record of wrongs. Kathleen does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. She always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Kathleen never fails. Hmm, I can only pray that this statement would one day be absurdly accurate about me. However, for now I will just continue to use it as a guide for loving on a daily basis.
I pray that the Holy Spirit will work on our hearts. And that God will strengthen us to comprehend His relentless love. And that He would give us the ability to encourage and build each other up in the coming months. May God's love begin to change our lives and direct us to love the way He first loved us.
Here is the assignment for this week. Read chapter one of "Crazy Love" by Frances Chan. And keep in mind these questions:
1) What do you think would come out of your mouth the moment you first saw God? What would you say? Would you be able to speak?
2)How would you like your "love" life to be changed?
I pray that your relationship with God is abundantly changed over the course of this week!
Father God, I sit here before you this morning and pray that you quiet my mind and keep me still. Lord, I lift those who are doing this study up to you. I pray that each of us feels the magnitude of your relentless love. As we read through Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4 I also pray that as we seek your face we are singing your praises. For holy, holy, holy are you Lord God Almighty.
ReplyDelete