What is love? My version of love had conditions. If you do
this for me that means you love me. Anything you did to hurt or offend me meant
that you did not love me. To me it actually meant that you cared nothing about
me. My love was so dramatic. As a young girl I had a very warped version of
love and I trusted no one. This was because of being sexually abused. I thank
the Lord he softened my heart and opened my eyes to such truth and revelation
about love. I thank Him he came down and rescued me because I was a hot mess
ladies. J
The Lord showed me what love is. Love is patient and kind;
it is not jealous or it does not hold any record of wrongs. It is not envious
and always endures, hoping for the best (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Love does not
wait for you to love back. This understanding was crucial to me when it came to
my marriage. Love is selfless, Monique. It is not about you in anyway shape or
form! Love thinks about others and not self. It is not prideful. Love forgives
and does not hold grudges. Love cuts people slack and does not expect them to
be perfect. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). God is love!!! Talk
about a wakeup call!!
I don’t know about
you but I can always use some work on my “love walk”. Joyce Meyer said
something to the effect “take your eyes off yourself and put them more on
people”. The Lord is the very essence of love. Jesus says in Matthew 22:36-40
to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind which is the first and
greatest command. Second, love your neighbor as yourself” If it is the greatest
command then I think we should pay attention. Love comes freely when you love
the Lord and if you catch the vision he has for you, your love walk changes. You have to
have a yielded heart to understand God’s love though. You have to first love
yourself with the love of the Lord before you can offer it up like hot cakes. Because
God’s love truly lets others be themselves then that means you have to do some changing to let true unadulterated, unconditional love flow.
Good news is the Lord loves to sit beside us and show us his
way of doing things. He won’t pressure us because he is a gentleman. But He will patiently
wait until we ask him to show us. I challenge you to look up all you can in the
Bible about love and write out the verses. Memorize them and get them etched in
your heart. Pray that the Lord will help you practice all you have learned. Most
of all be patient with yourself. You are growing. Your love walk is vital to
growing in Christ, so embrace it.
Be more Sisters! Let’s love others unconditionally, like the
Lord loves us.
In Christ,
Monique Smith
Prayer Starter:
Lord, reduce me to
love. Help me to decrease so that you can increase. I want to love others unconditionally
but I cannot do this on my own. Break my heart with what breaks yours Father so
that I can grow into the faith filled, loving
woman you need me to be. Thank you for your constant love you show me daily. In
Jesus name. Amen
We can do no great things, only small things with great love – Mother Teresa
