YOU ARE FREE TO LOVE.
I have set you free to love others, so don't let people who have caused you pain paralyze you from experiencing the joys of love. I know there is always a risk when you give a piece of your heart away, but I've created you to enjoy the gift of special friendships. Choose wisely the ones that you invest your time and energy in, and also give those you love the freedom to fail. Remember that no one will love you as perfectly as I do. If you let Me take the disappointments that come with relationships, you will be free to give and receive love unconditionally. Remember, My princess, most people need love the most when they deserve it the least.
Love,
Your King who is Love"
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)
God knows exactly what I need to hear all the time. Thanks to one of my wonderful teachers from middle school, for my evening devotional, I have been reading His Princess: Love Letters from Your King by Sherri Rose Shepherd. I usually only read one love letter a night so that I can focus on the point(s) the letter is trying to make. Tonight I was angry
My heart has been filled with so much pain, which often leads to anger and hatred, two feelings very uncommon for me, and I did not know how to deal with those feelings. I was letting them consume me and I know that sometimes they will still threaten to do so. Mean/hateful thoughts, deriving from the pain I am struggling with, have entered my mind so many times recently, but the above love letter and verse reminded me of how true Christian love works.
(When I refer to love in the following paragraphs, I am referring to a deeper love than romance--I am referring to the most wonderful, forgiving, deepest love of all--the love of Christ.)
"If I speak in 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 prophecy 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 gain 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 truth. It always protects, always trusts, 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." 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8 (NIV)
"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)
Love is indispensable and it never fails, just like Jesus never fails us. These past couple days I have not been practicing true Christian love. The verse above says love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. As a human-being, I am having a really hard time loving deeply; I just want to be angry, and harden my heart, keeping record of the wrongs you have committed against me. I know that Jesus understands my hurt and disappointment; He knows exactly all my thoughts, but He is not satisfied with only knowing...He wants me to give Him my troubles and disappointments. If I turn over my sorrows to Him, I am free to love those that have hurt me; I am free to forgive them like Jesus forgave all of my sins and yours; I am free to be soft and not become hardened or paralyzed by those who have caused me great sorrow.
Tonight I am laying my sorrows down at my Savior's feet; I'm trading them for the joy of the Lord. I am still hurting and healing, but I am ridding myself of anger and putting on love.
I am loving you the most when you deserve it the least.
My thoughts, love and prayers ALWAYS,
Abigail
Abs, very well said. Your words are a valuable lesson that we all need to learn. I can speak from my own experiences from my very young teen years....I did not have the wisdom nor maturity to understand what you have so elegantly written.....and anger and hatred almost destroyed me. It took many years to come face to face with it and eventually try mend, not only my own heart, but also the damaged relationships as well. I had great walls to tear down, walls I created to hide behind. Walls that gave solitude from vulnerability. Lonely walls. Healing came slowly. Revisiting the pain was necessary and even a bit painful still, but healing must do it's work. It would have been so much easier and healthier if I could have known what you have written. But our Father takes all things and works them for good. Now, 30 years later, I have scars where there once weren't any, but nonetheless, a work held together by His infallible love and grace. You are blessed to have this wisdom now while you can still channel the situation to righteousness sooner rather than later. Bless you sweet one.
ReplyDeletePS.. Your Pumpkin Spice latte is still one of all time favorites! And so are you :)