"Holding On to Love"

Reflections4Life™ April 28, 2019

“Holding On To Love”

“But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

Scripture Reading For This Week: Genesis 1;2; Song of Solomon; John 3:16-17; John 17; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:22-23...

How can I possibly explain how much I love the Lord? I do not believe I have the vernacular to do justice to what my heart and soul hoards for the Father. I love Him with every fiber of my being; every single molecule. His love has set me free, and I never want to let go of Him. No matter what comes to me in this life; I will hold on to love.

I decree that this week's Reflections will be a continued source of encouragement and inspiration for your heart mind and soul. There may be somethings that have caused you to draw back and not to love freely or unconditionally; but now is the time to get back in, and love unconditionally. No longer will you let go of love but hold on, give love, and receive the love you deserve.

What a powerful revelation the Father blessed me with concerning love. How can I even begin to tell you? I guess the best way is to just show you; through my actions, through my writing, through my service to the Father on a daily basis.

Do you know how powerful love is? Do you understand how love can change things and people? That, Unconditional love. That, God love. God, Himself. Oh my dear friends, when I understood that God is love and that He has created in me that same love; and part of Him is in me—I cannot begin to tell you how that revelation changed my life, and how I love and receive love.

It is a given that in this lifetime we are going to be hurt, disappointed, and discouraged. It will come. Yet, we cannot allow those things to stop us from loving unconditionally. Many of us love, but we love with conditions. This was not always the case. When we come into this world, all we know is to love unconditionally as a child, until we grow up and begin to experience life and put into practice what we've been taught. Taught through other's actions; mimicking the way others loved around us.

The only way to know how to love, to love unconditionally, is to be intimate with the Father; to understand how He loves and to know what it is He desires from us. Any other kind of love is temporal. It will not last or stand the tests and trials of our lifetime. It holds restraints and has conditions upon it.

However, the love of God—God Love—is refreshing, liberating, unconditional, mind and heart changing, and it is everlasting. Don't get me wrong; I am not saying that we will not experience hurt and disappointment while loving unconditionally, because we will. That is being a part of life on this earth. However, we can triumph over those hurts and love freely without having to contort ourselves into someone we do not know, filled with bitterness, regrets, carrying countless baggage, and never trusting anyone. That is not Christ! That is not God-Love! That is a prison sentence. God has set us free from that. We can live and love without any strings or conditions attached.

So can we agree that in this life we will experience disappointment and hurt? But can we also agree that we can and will also experience the joy and gift of love when we love God's way? We cannot allow unconditional love to slip from our spirits because we have been hurt. No matter how many times it has occurred. I know: easier said than done. But I don't believe so. Not when you allow God that place upon the throne of your heart, and you begin to love as He loves. When you allow the Father to teach you how to navigate and how to love as He does.

I learned a valuable lesson. I came to the understanding that many of us have allowed the way we love to be shaped by our experiences with others. Because of this, we hinder and short-change ourselves when it comes to giving and receiving love. We punish others for the missteps and hurts caused by another.

When you are hurt, you cannot allow it [hurt] to change your love. Love should be unconditional. When hurt or disappointed, there is the tendency to alter how we love, and not allow the next person in our lives to experience that unconditional love. Instead, we bring judgment, fear, and baggage from the past. This can keep us from the wealth of blessings that God has for our lives. Do not allow the pain heartache and disappointment from previous relationships; whether it's romantic, friendships, or even a relationship with a church—to change how you love and receive love. Allow God to guard your heart, as you continue to love unconditionally.

Again, in this life, there is going to be sorrows, heartache, pain, disappointment. But there is also triumphs, joy, peace, and yes, love. We mustn't allow the hurt we have experienced today to dictate how we love tomorrow. We find this, especially in romantic relationships. We get hurt by someone we loved deeply. Because of this, we may find that we are not willing to love as freely; finding ourselves placing conditions on our love. If the person does this, or if they say that, then it's over. We hold them to a standard created by the actions of another. In this instance, we never get to truly know or even love this person or receive the love they have for us because it is tainted by the hurt and disappointment from previous experiences.

The same thing can be said when we go to churches. I don't know how many stories I have heard and can testify to myself, where someone has been hurt by people in the church. They find themselves going from church to church; eventually giving up on any fellowship with a local church body. Why? Because as soon as we see anything resembling what we experienced, we are out the door! Is that fair? Did we sit down with the Pastor and discuss our experiences? Did we allow God to bring healing to our hearts? Dis we allow ourselves time to even heal before moving forward? Probably not.

When it comes to love—unconditional love—we need to hold on and never let it go. It makes all the difference in our experiences. It makes the difference in how we interact with others, how we see ourselves, and how we not only give love but receive love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a “Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or 5 rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do.6 Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. 7 Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting.8 Love never fails!”

My Beloveds, I decree that the spirit of peace and of prosperity has found permanent rest in your lives. I decree that every good thing that God has ordained for your life will become evident to you. Let love reign. Let God be all up in your space, loving on you and teaching you to love. Hold onto love and never let it go. No matter the circumstances or situations, love will always and can always endure. You are blessed. Now go...and be a blessing!

©2019. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.