Monday, February 22, 2021
You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength,
and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.
The Messy Work of Loving
One of the greatest problems in relationships is the unrealistic
expectations we place on the people we love and those who love us. We live in
an Instagram world where every marriage, parenthood experience, family, home,
etc. seems perfect and beautiful. We have been inundated with the whole concept
of “self-love” in the last few years also. The best self love we can give ourselves is to look outward instead of inward.
The thing about love that we try to leave out or cover up is that sometimes it is not clean,
tidy, or comfortable. Most of life’s moments with the people we love
are not “Insta worthy.” Real love for each other, the kind of love God asks us
to stand in and suffer through at times, is never what gets posted on the most popular
social media sites. Yes, love is a beautiful gift from God, but we have to take
the ugly side along with the beautiful side. It is the hard times we go through
with those we love that refines us personally and strengthens our
relationships, with each other and with God.
We want a perfect and easy life – we are human! We want easy relationships, that flow effortlessly, but the only perfect love we will ever experience is the flawless,
unconditional love that God has for us. No love on earth – from people or
things – will ever fulfill us like the love of God. But we will search
endlessly for something or someone that does, until we learn that He is the
only place to find that fulfillment and that true fulfillment will only come from giving
that love away.
God does put people in our lives that are not easy to love, or they are not convenient. Like the Priest and the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan that Brother Van preached on yesterday, we tend to cross the road, avoid, or keep clear of these inconvenient, messy people. We rarely seek them out, hoping we don’t get caught up in some situation with them - because they almost always have a situation. You know who they are, we all have them in our lives. If we want to live a life that truly glorifies Him, and if we want to live our lives in a way that He wants us to, that involves loving those people. If God has put someone in your life like that, He did it for a purpose. You may be the only person that ever shows the love of God to them. Please do not think I am talking down about anyone. We are all messy people at times.
I cannot stop thinking about the amazing grace God has for me. How could I ever not have grace for another? He has loved us when we were the most unlovable, and gave His Son for our salvation and eternal life. He loves us when we fail Him every day, and never gives up on us. God calls us to do messy, hard things. He calls us to love when it is inconvenient and to sacrifice and put the needs of others before our needs or desires. He calls us to look in the ditches and to help the ones no one else wants to help. He calls us to love those we subconsciously think are unworthy. He calls us to be the Good Samaritan and not cross the road. If God does not call us to do these things, then what is our purpose in His kingdom? He calls us to show His love to everyone - and messy people in messy situations need it the most.
