For me, our love was contingent upon my happiness. It wasn’t until years later when I heard a pastor mention something I’ve heard a thousand times that I remembered that my husband STILL IS the one that God hand picked for me. The pastor was reminding us that our failures and disappointments in life are something to rejoice in as much as our victories. These are the challenges that cause us to remember who we are in Christ and cause us to trust Him with our good and our bad. My mind immediately raced to the day I fell in love with my husband.
I had loved someone in the past, and it left me heart-broken and feeling worthless. But my husbands love gave meaning to my life; it started to heal wounds that he didn’t cause- wounds that shouldn’t have been there anyway, but that’s a different issue. When I found out he loved me, a thousand arrows could not quench the love I felt for him. It was the most amazing love I had ever felt in my life, with the exception of how I felt when I found out Christ loved me.
This was one of those moments when I began to heal. I realized that I was the one holding us back because, in my quest for unconditional love, I overlooked my need to love unconditionally. So, you know…. I’m working on it.
I will never utter to you, in sincerity, that I think I am perfect. I know I have my share of flaws. If my goal in life is to be like Christ, which it is, I must learn to take the rejection along with the triumphal entries just like He experienced, and love His people all the same. I can now walk in the knowledge and freedom of unconditional love because of His love for me.
Prayer:
Gracious Father,
Thank You for Your unconditional love. I thank you Lord that I do not have to earn Your love, I can just walk in it. Lord, help me to love others the way You do. Amen.
Scripture Reference:
1 Corinthians 13:1-8 (NIV)
If I speak with the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I fain nothing. 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 with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
John 3:16 (NIV)
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.
Romans 5:8 (NIV)
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:8 (NIV)
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1John 4:18 (NIV)
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
Song of Solomon 1:2 (NIV)
Let him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth- for your love is more delightful than wine.
Thought Builder:
Are you allowing yourself to love unconditionally? Are you really walking in your unconditional love with the Father?
Are you currently holding on to a disappointment that is restraining you from feeling fulfilled? What would it feel like to let it go?
Love LIFE (Love Is ForEver):
I challenge you today to really do something that shows love to your spouse. Make them a homemade card, send some “Shari’s Berries” just because, or buy them a book they’ve wanted to read. Love doesn’t always have to be extravagant. Usually, it’s the little things a person does that means the most.
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