Live It!

Love is the filter by which all disciples of Jesus should form their thoughts and actions. The people who have made the most positive impact on us are the ones who have loved us. Conversely, the ones that have the most horrible impact are the ones who have hurt us. Those are the experiences- both the good and the bad- that mold us and perhaps form our definition of love. We become our best self when people pour encouragement and love into us and we sink the lowest when we are stripped of our sense of self with negativity. That is why Jesus said the most important thing we can ever do is not believe the right things, but do the right thing. And then he defined the right things as loving God and loving others.

Here is the rub in our all of that. Our own individual history may have created a false definition of love. Perhaps a person who said they loved us, treated us contrary to Jesus’ definition of love. We discover later that what was defined by them as love was really manipulation, selfishness or even abuse. Now we are confused and we don’t even know what love looks like. It is something illusive that is always around the next corner; something we long for and dream about.

Perhaps we think we finally found “true love” when we said yes to marriage, only to find out that our “true love” is flawed and doesn’t really meet our needs in the way we thought real true love should. Hope is replaced with disillusion and, eventually, scar tissue forms around our wounds to the point where any act of love cannot even penetrate our hearts. And a heart that cannot receive love, can never truly give love.

Maybe you have been hurt to the point that your self-esteem is non-existent and you don’t feel worthy of love. Don’t be misled into believing that is just being humble. Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. It is thinking of yourself, less. Therefore, if you think you are unworthy or underserving of being loved… you are focused on yourself and your unworthiness and the pain that goes along with it, right? When you begin to see yourself as does your Creator, the Lover of your soul, the One who identifies you as a masterpiece created for a purpose, you no longer need focus on yourself and your pain. You are His prize. You are His adored. You are His precious child. There is so much security in that revelation that you can begin to open your heart and focus on others and how you can be a blessing in their lives. You have the freedom to accept love from others, which enables you to love freely, without reservation.

If we ever really want to be seen as a reflection of the perfect love of Jesus, we have to begin by loving God and we can’t love Him if we don’t love His children…. And that includes US…ourselves. When we don’t love ourselves, we essentially refuse the love He freely offers in spite of our unworthiness; something we all have in common. This can only mean we are left wanting and unable to love God or others because our well runs dry.

The message of Jesus is all about living love. Loving God totally, which means also loving yourself, His precious child... caring for the mind, body and spirit God gave you. And loving others, with their imperfections, in the same way God loves you with all of yours. As we walk through the season of Easter, I challenge you to take a deeper look at the love that God has for you. Take a deeper look at the love you have for Him. Examine with scrutiny how you are loving others. If you find yourself falling short, you are normal. We all do. But, don’t sit there learning to be content with it. Each day, invite His love to fill you to the brim and allow it to run over to everyone you come into contact with. Live love a little bit better than you did yesterday and all your tomorrows promise to be brighter.