Sometimes the experience of loving and being loved generates warm feelings that bring happiness, satisfaction, pleasure, and encouragement. This type of Love has the power to lift us up and reward us with the courage to keep stepping forward in life- towards our destiny! However, true love is not just a feeling, and Jesus tells us to love those who will not, or cannot return our love. When we experience this side of love, it doesn’t always feel rewarding. Instead it produces feelings of wanting to run away from the fear of rejection that might produce feelings of hurt, or anger. To be able to love and treat with respect those who do not respect themselves, and are too wounded to let down their guard to allow others the chance to love them takes an on-going work of God’s boundless grace and mercy in our hearts. Apart from God’s healing and transforming power in our hearts, this type of higher love cannot be experienced as a reality in our lives. We cannot love this purely without humility, and the Holy Spirit’s enduring power to love.
This type of love is “God” love”! It requires that we turn towards Jesus when we don’t like someone or we despise what they do, and release our souls’ negative emotions of hurt, anger, fear, etc. Learning to habitually run to Jesus with our injured soul will eventually bring us to connection with the magnificent Lord Yahweh, who has the power to heal of our inner man, and enable us to forgive those who have rejected us and disrespect our needs. As God continues to pour His Holy Spirit into our hearts, and we connect with more of God’s love through our relationship with Jesus Christ our Lord, the negative feelings will be replaced with the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, patience, peace, gentleness, goodness, and faith. We will be given the grace and power needed to love the unlovely unconditionally-expecting nothing back.
This doesn’t mean that we become doormats to be stomped-on, used or abused. God’s wisdom will teach us how to set up healthy boundaries, how to speak the truth in love, and how to have the courage to keep stepping forward emotionally and spiritually. This doesn’t mean we will always have a great, two-way relationship with those who reject and disrespect us. To have a good relationship takes two people that want to equally love and understand one another, while at the same time allowing God to be in the center of the personal connection. Sometimes you have to let go of one way relationships, and give the one you love to God – allowing Him to deal with and help them. This will free you up to continue to grow in God’s grace.
At some point in time we will realize that people are not equipped to meet our every need, but there is a God of Love that can meet all our needs- and He will. He will never reject us because His love and acceptance is never ending, stable, and fixed. With God’s love living within and supporting us, we have the ability to love all people with a Christ like love, the kind that helps others without being seduced or manipulated by them. Christ like love brings us out of ourselves and gives us the desire and energy to share with others what we have received for ourselves. It is not enough that I have God’s peace and joy- I have a desire that all others are able to also experience this peace and joy. This pure, strong love speaks the truth and is kind, patient, and enduring. In life’s spiritual journey, enduring love is our goal, and as we continue to evolve spiritually into our Savior’s likeness, we will mature in mind and heart- step by step. Sometimes we will take a few steps forward, and then a couple backwards, but with the power of God’s Spirit united with our spirit within our hearts, we will ultimately have the ability and power to walk in God’s enduring love and truth.
“Love endures long and is patient and kind”(1 Corinthians 13:4a).
