Now here is what I am up to in this part of my challenge…
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31 NIV)
Now why did I just add that here? “Love your neighbor as yourself”
So how can I love my neighbor, IF I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO LOVE OTHERS…
I am currently on the the 31st day of this challenge… Now here is what happened in the last few days…
I have to apologize about the late post… I had second thought about continuing with this… Yet, I feel I must finish it…
Day 19 – Love is impossible…
Let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7 NASB)
Last week I mentioned that there is a game changer this week… So, here it is…
LOVE IS IMPOSSIBLE…
I have failed in every aspect of the last 18 days… I could not do anything to love myself more only to find that I can not do anything to love period…
This was a relieve, yet it made me feel very powerless… I can do nothing to love, meaning I can’t really love…
BUT WHY?
If I can not love, how is it expected to really love someone?
If God is love… That means only God can really love…
Now God can use us to love… But only if we find our source for love in HIM…
We need to remember that for us to be able to really love, we need to be plugged in to the One who is Love, basically channeling His love THROUGH US… We can like people, but this is not really the same as love…
Day 20 – Love is Jesus Christ…
While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6 NASB)
Well, true love was first demonstrated by God…
I wrote a post earlier… Just saying oops? Or is it about your actions?
The above mentioned post pretty much related into this one…
How does one have Jesus Christ as love?
If you read the above mentioned post, you would know that this is because He was the gift send for us… As shown in Romans 5:6
Wait, does this mean I might need more than what I could ever have on my own…
Here is the secret… We will need, and have always needed Christ… Not just because He saves, but because He showed us what real love looks like…
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 ESV)
He SHOWED loved by GIVING us His Son…
Wait, but how does this make a difference?
Is there something more?
Something we need to do?
We need God to be in us, to show us how to really love, and to love through us…
But can we just be part of this and can God show it to anyone?
First… Anyone who chooses to lay down his life for Christ, can be part of this…
God is a Gentleman… He does not force anyone to follow His, thus He whole point is to CHOOSE HIM in response to His love for us…
Now God can show love to anyone… HE LOVED YOU BEFORE YOU WERE EVEN BORN… But to teach you to REALLY love, will take somewhat more than a day… OR and experience… It is a quest to learn how to love better that the day before… And love more like Christ than you used to….
If you are unsure of what God did for you, watch “The Passion of the Christ“
Day 21 – Love is satisfied in God…
The Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire. (Isaiah 58:11 NASB)
Wait, what does this mean?
Love is satisfied in God…
Love is not satisfied by our own needs… Our spouses… Our friends… Not even our families…
They can only do it so far… Then their attempts become useless… And only makes you think something is missing…
No offense to you, your spouse, your friends or even your family….
Each and everyone of them is temporary… And grounding your love needs on any of them is futile… And will not be satisfactory….
Wait, but how are we, by putting our need for love in God, get satisfaction?
Lets start…
Does your spouse work late? God is there always…
Is your best friend sometimes missing in action? God ain’t…
Is it that your friends and family say stuff that hurt, and sometimes destroy, you? God doesn’t…
Does it feel like no one ever has time for you? God is always there, talk to Him…
Am I saying God can satisfy every flaw you see in another, but you see as a need? That is a big YES… Basically every need can be satisfied in God…
But wait… How does this change the game when we look at ourselves?
Do you feel like you are always hurting people? God can teach you how to love them…
Do you always feel like you are in the way? God can show you where you belong…
Feeling like nothing is ever good enough? God said your best is good enough…
Are you feeling like you are the worst friend ever, because no one seems to care about what you do for them or what you say to try and help? God has made you this way for a reason… You are needed in some way…
Are you feeling like the world could be better of without you? God predestined you for a time such as this… You are needed for today not the past, not the future…
But how are we satisfied in God?
We spend time with Him… How?
We talk to Him.. through prayer…
BUT REMEMBER THAT PRAYER IS NOT A LIST OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR AND THINGS WE NEED FROM GOD… IT IS A CONVERSATION WHERE YOU CAN ASK GOD SOMETHING AND HE CAN GIVE YOU AN ANSWER…
Answers are normally one of three, this is one of the things I learned only this year….
- Yes – Now this does not have to be a yes/no question. Yes can be anything you ask… God what is my calling? Why am I here? These are some questions which we can ask… And the yes could be what God wants you to know at that moment…
- No – Wait… God says no? Of course…. Should you marry that girl? Should I commit suicide? Should I give up? Should I want to please people? Should I divorce my spouse? These are just some, yet we might think it is cruel of Him to say no… Yet WHAT IF THERE IS A GIRL WHO IS PERFECT FOR YOU AND WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY, MORE THAN THIS GIRL HAS BEAUTY? We want the now’s, yet it is not always what God has in stored for us… He sees everything in your life and answers that way….
- Not now…. Wait, He might want us to wait? Yes, should I quit my job? Should I go to on an outreach? Should I marry that girl?… In some cases, the thing we want to do, in not the thing we should do right now…
A friend of mine liked this girl, and prayed about it, the answer he got was… First find Me, then I will satisfy you, then you can think about a girl… Nothing before that… The result… He now seeks to find God and get to know Him better…
Loving God was, is and always will be our primary concern… The rest flows from this…
You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Psalm 145:16 NASB)
Day 22 – Love is faithful…
I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord. (Hosea 2:20 NASB)
Why Hosea?
When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the LORD.” (Hosea 1:2 NIV)
WHAT?!?!?!? Are you serious?
Unfortunately I am… We all tend to jump out when stuff becomes to hard for us… Think about it?
How many people do you know who committed suicide? Did you know the reason?
I know I considered it a few times…. After the first time, it became a habit…
Why am I telling you this?
I was 13 years old when I became a slave to thinking of this… Now I didn’t know how to cope or handle this… Later I picked it up on various others as well… And the same I saw… A feeling of being hopeless… Not ever being able to be good enough… This I saw in everyone who was considering it… And also something I knew from my own experience… Suicide took the life of a client of my dad… The reason … Financial struggle which was just to much… Hopeless to provide for his family…
Now faithfulness is when we decide to stand strong with God, even when this could happen… When lust overcomes us, will we stay with God instead of run to a prostitute? Why do I mention this?
Now God is seen as the Bridegroom, and we are the unfaithful bride…. He already committed to a life with us, yet we decide that we love sin more… We love the pleasures of this life more than we love the LOVE GOD HAS FOR US… We are unfortunately weak… We run to people, because we think we need them… God can use them yes… But we shouldn’t run to them, even when we are lonely… We might not want to… Yet we can never be satisfied by them, not even our spouse can… But if we commit to being faithful to God first, we will be satisfied… And our spouse second, and friends third…
But how?
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart . . . your soul . . . your strength . . . your mind . . . and your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27 ESV)
Remember our love for one another shows the world who God is… And our existence is rooted in it… Now we should love God and love people….FAITHFULLY….
Now:
I have chosen the faithful way. (Psalm 119:30 NASB)
God bless… Remember… THE ROOT OF ALL LOVE IS GOD…. PERIOD