l.o.ve.
The down side of eating dove chocolate (today was a "three pieces in an hour" at work day) are the corny sayings on the wrappers. The first one was "dare to love completely."
The Bible says these things about love:
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13
1 Corinthians 13
The part that I have trouble with is, "it keeps no record of wrongs," in the context of forgiving and loving people who have hurt me. There was an event in my early childhood that I barely remembered until I was about 23 . The details aren't too important, but the gist of the story was that I was literally walked out on by someone who was supposed to love me. It took me about 15 years to be able to tell that person I loved them (the rest of my youth) and impacted almost every relationship since then. While I've at one point felt like I had truly forgiven this person, I still drift back to the hurt, to that wound. The consequence is that I sometimes have a hard time trusting and loving completely. Which isn't always bad. It's something in some cases I wish I would tap into more often. I've been subject to "judging a book by it's cover," meaning, believing and loving the book by the summary on the cover only to find out that the pages inside tell a different story.
And so the struggle continues to truly let go and give over to God the hurts inflicted by those who have walked out on me, who have shown me less than kindness because of whose child I am, who have taken advantage of my eagerness to find the best in people and love them.
The question my dove wrapper brought up today is if we have to hold on to truly love. Can loving completely mean letting go and moving on in order to keep on loving in spite of the hurt?
And so the struggle continues to truly let go and give over to God the hurts inflicted by those who have walked out on me, who have shown me less than kindness because of whose child I am, who have taken advantage of my eagerness to find the best in people and love them.
The question my dove wrapper brought up today is if we have to hold on to truly love. Can loving completely mean letting go and moving on in order to keep on loving in spite of the hurt?
posted by Mrs. Harmon @ 1:36 PM
1 Comments:
I'm probably not one to comment on love. I haven't the faintest clue about how and when to let go. All I know is the amazing picture of love we find in 1 John 4:
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"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 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.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother."
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There's a quote that says "The difference between friendship and love is how much you can hurt each other." Loving completely can be a risk b/c it means opening yourself up to the possibility of getting hurt. But there's another quote that says "To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing."
We can love only because we are loved completely by God. We fail at loving completely because we are sinners. But we try. With God's grace, we have to try, in spite of the possible hurt.
But are there times when we have to let go and move on? Love keeps no record of wrongs. But is "moving on" not keeping a record of wrongs, or is it simply ignoring the wrongs? Avoidance is not to be confused with love. I think the better description for for "letting go and moving on" is "forgiving". It's not easy; it takes work and prayer. After all, "What we forgive too freely doesn't stay forgiven. --Mignon McLaughlin" But it is possible, and when it's truly heart-felt forgiveness, it becomes a form of love. "You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. --Lewis B. Smedes"
Colossians 3: "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
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