FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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Friday, May 22, 2009,8:34 p.m.
LOVE
Love. According to some famous musical sources, it makes the world go 'round. According to the scriptures, it is the very definition of who our God is. And it is the reason behind His rescue of us - love.
So I wonder....why is it that so many of us are afraid to love others? Or perhaps I should say, to love others with abandon? Even telling others that they are loved by us is something that many of us do not do easily. I received a note from a good friend today that simply said at the end, "Love you." It warmed my heart immeasurably and I realized that though I know I am loved, I don't hear those words enough. I told someone today that she was my friend and I loved her. I thought she was going to cry. She doesn't hear those words enough.
Why do we refrain from freely telling others how much they mean to us? Some would say that our actions - what we do - should be enough. I agree that if actions do not follow what is spoken, the words that are spoken are emptied of any meaning. But are actions enough? The reactions I see and experience when the words "I love you" are spoken would seem to indicate otherwise.
Perhaps we are afraid of being vulnerable. If we open our hearts up enough even to express (let alone show) that we love someone - even in friendship - it leaves us open to having our hearts pierced.
Pierced. Precisely what happened to Jesus when He brought us His love in the flesh. He loved. He was vulnerable. He was pierced. And all of it bought my freedom and rescue and the abolishing of my death sentence. This is the power of loving freely.
There is no promise that love is without personal risk or cost.
There is a promise that love is the greatest thing ever to be given or received.
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.
You are greatly loved.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
So I wonder....why is it that so many of us are afraid to love others? Or perhaps I should say, to love others with abandon? Even telling others that they are loved by us is something that many of us do not do easily. I received a note from a good friend today that simply said at the end, "Love you." It warmed my heart immeasurably and I realized that though I know I am loved, I don't hear those words enough. I told someone today that she was my friend and I loved her. I thought she was going to cry. She doesn't hear those words enough.
Why do we refrain from freely telling others how much they mean to us? Some would say that our actions - what we do - should be enough. I agree that if actions do not follow what is spoken, the words that are spoken are emptied of any meaning. But are actions enough? The reactions I see and experience when the words "I love you" are spoken would seem to indicate otherwise.
Perhaps we are afraid of being vulnerable. If we open our hearts up enough even to express (let alone show) that we love someone - even in friendship - it leaves us open to having our hearts pierced.
Pierced. Precisely what happened to Jesus when He brought us His love in the flesh. He loved. He was vulnerable. He was pierced. And all of it bought my freedom and rescue and the abolishing of my death sentence. This is the power of loving freely.
There is no promise that love is without personal risk or cost.
There is a promise that love is the greatest thing ever to be given or received.
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.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)
You are greatly loved.
