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2006-06-30 - Isn't Love Divine?
Part 1
Philippians 1:9-10 (The Message) Learn to love appropriately.
You need to use your head, and test your feelings, so that your love is sincere
and intelligent, not sentimental gush.
LOVE
friendships, relationships, dating, marriage,
families
what does it all mean? What is it all about? And how do you
remain loving in these different areas, when it's not returned? The easy
way is to take the love away and hide it, put it behind a wall, & feel
nothing at all. Or there are always those who can ignore it & ignore
it & ignore it, until it becomes too much - and then everything explodes
just like a pressure cooker (that, unfortunately would be me).
There's the "vengeance is mine" attitude and the "let's see how you like
it when it's done to you" attitude. Oh, and by the way, the last one rarely,
if ever, works. If they were going to get it, they would have gotten it when
they said/did it to you, or when you communicated how you felt when that
happened. If they didn't get it with all that, they most likely aren't going
to learn from you. It's at that point that I simply leave it to God, because
that is pretty much the only way they will understand it. So, I ask
"what's all this `to-do' about love?"¹
Within any type of relationship, if the foundation is based on love, it is
as unpredictable as building and maintaining a relationship on sand. With
its random reliability, it can change on you in a moment's notice, without
any advance warning. In essence of what Joshua Harris said in his book, I
Kissed Dating Goodbye, don't found your relationships most especially
your marital relationship "on our culture's defective attitudes &
patterns for romance." I'm not saying love isn't essential for a good
relationship; however, I believe it is not foundational.
Let me explain further. Love is great, but we must keep in mind that we tend
to view love as an emotion, when truly it is so much more. It's simplistic
to say and to know that, but putting it into functional, active, realistic
daily use is far less simple - especially when you or your spouse says or
does the wrong thing at the wrong time. That's when it becomes all too easy
to respond in a very unloving way, something of which I'm sure we have all
done (Me? Never!). It sometimes is -maybe most of the time- easier to deal
with our own version of love. We can place it on the most basic level, and
then it becomes ok to flip our "love switch" on and off. We allow ourselves
our own excuses as to why it's okay to build a wall and hide behind it, often
thinking that it protects us. It gives us an unrealistic way of thinking
that we can prevent ourselves from those feelings of hurt, anger, and resentment.
Once again, Joshua Harris reminds us that "
instead of acting on what
they know is right, [God's design] couples let their feelings carry them
away [
& forgetting sometimes conveniently- that] maintaining
a relationship takes a lot of time and energy."
Father, I pray that you become the ruler of our hearts
and minds. Teach us truly how to love. Teach us Your design for love and
how live it out. Sometimes, Lord, it can be so difficult to remain in a loving
spirit, when it's easier to maintain ourselves within our own humanistic
boundaries. Forgive us, Lord, where we have failed You and served our own
desires. It is just easier for us to understand our way to Your perfect way.
Equip us to live out our love for Your glory. In Jesus' name, AMEN.
¹unknown author or source
Comments or Questions?
Cheryl
botwbld@cfdevotionals.org
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