"Whom Do You Love? Are You for Sure?"

September 25, 2016

REFLECTIONS4LIFE™

“Whom Do You Love? Are You For Sure?”

“Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others. Isn’t always “me first”. Doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything.
Trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 MSG

Scripture Contemplation: Luke 15; John 15; 1 Corinthians 13…

Whom do you love? Are you for sure? Do you love them in a way that lifts them up, or that tears them down? How do you know it is love that you are feeling? Maybe it is not love but infatuation. We use that word love an awful lot. Have you really stopped to think about its meaning? What love really means? What love really is? Who Love is?

I pray today’s Reflections brings comfort and peace to your heart and mind. I decree it be a continued source of encouragement and inspiration; bringing peace and revelation to your heart, mind, and soul. God is love. He is the ultimate definition of love. Spend some intimate and quality time this week in the Father’s presence, soaking up all the goodness and love that can only be found in a relationship with Him. You have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

When you tell someone you love him or her, what are you really saying? What do you mean? Is it unconditional or conditional love? Sometimes we get it twisted.

To love someone unconditionally, you do not count their faults, flaws, and mistakes, then turn around and use it against them. It means that you know they are flawed and not perfect, yet you love them in spite of and decide that you want to share a life with them, accepting them just as they are and willing to grow with them and see where the journey of life takes the both of you.

Conditional love puts limits and conditions on our love. It says that if you do x, y, and z, then I will withhold a, b, and c, along with my love. You use love as a punishment; withholding affection until you are satisfied with the other person's actions. Conditional love says that there are certain conditions that must be met before you will give or show love to the other person.

Often times we believe our love is unconditional until a situation takes place or a person disappoints us and we are exiting the relationship, rushing into new ones, only to find ourselves repeating past behaviors.

Unconditional love is risky, requiring vulnerability. Many of us would rather hold on to the old wounds, allowing them to dictate our behavior and measure of love in all of our relationships.

Too many people say, "I love you" and do not know what they are talking about. They get unconditional and conditional twisted…leaving people hurt, angry, wounded, and jacked up for the next relationship, and finding it hard to love themselves.

Know and understand this: If you are not ready to be vulnerable, to give your all, to take risks, to accept people for who they are and where they are at in life at this time, then do not commit and do not say you love them. Moreover, whatever you do, do not marry them. Unconditional love requires a lot, especially vulnerability and acceptance. Think on it.

Who could be more vulnerable than God could? Here we are, His beloved creation, made in His image, and we ignore God. We reject Him. Our actions are sometimes anything but love. Yet, God has not given up on us. Our Heavenly Father, Knower of all things, especially our hearts and what we are going think before the thoughts come, knew that sending His only begotten Son would save many, but many would still reject it—reject Him.

God is love, Beloved. He is the embodiment of love. What love is, what it looks like, feels like, sounds like, tastes like…all God. We can exchange the name of God in our conversations like this: I God you. I will God you forever.

Beloved, when you tell someone you love them, think about what you mean, and what you would want it to mean when someone says they love you. If you are not, ready to love unconditionally; to accept someone for who they are right now, then do not make that commitment until you are certain, and are ready, until you can allow yourself to be vulnerable. Because loving someone is not always easy. It takes some sacrifice and compromise at times, and a certain strength and fortitude to forge ahead in love at times. Just remember: with God in you and all around you, you cannot lose with love, only gain.

My Beloveds, may the spirit of peace and prosperity find permanent rest in your lives. I decree that every good thing that God has ordained for your life will become evident to you. Allow the true, sincere, unconditional love of God to not only penetrate your heart and mind but also allow it to lead you throughout each day; guiding and strengthening you in the ways of His kind of love, a love that this world so desperately needs more of. You are blessed. Now go…and be a blessing!

©2016. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.