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If You Love Me... By Robert Berendt How do you show your love for others?
any poems, stories and songs have been written about love. The power of this unseen concept is immense. It does not exist in the animal kingdom; but in the human realm, love is a powerful force. So powerful that if little babies do not experience love from someone, such as their parents, they will die. It is a concept that is abused among humans. The need to be loved is such a strong force that we often make very poor choices to fulfill it. We may not voice our need, but it drives us from within. If a person really does love you, he or she will do everything possible to insure your well-being. I have been told that when I was about a year old, when I cried, my older sister would throw everything into the crib to placate me. It was not done to show love, it was done because of her jealousy. She did not want our mother to pay attention to me. Children need to learn to express love in a right and good way. All of us need to learn this. It should be clear that if someone expresses love for you but then brings you into danger or encourages you to do something that may hurt you, that is not love. It may be fulfilling some need or drive within that person and our response may be fulfilling some drive within ourselves. Only when those drives are healthy, right and good does real love exist. Verses 4-8 of 1 Corinthians describes true love. True love
It seems so difficult to get this lesson through our heads. True love edifies, makes better, improves and brings joy and all the good things of life. Statements such as "If you love me, you will..." (tolerate my drinking, satisfy my needs, forgive me for hitting you, overlook my foul temper, etc.) are all examples of anything but true love. They are requests that are an attempt to use love as a force to make the other person do something that overlooks your own weakness or faults. Such demands show selfishness.
Jesus said, If you love Me, "feed My sheep" (John 21:16, King James Version throughout). He also promised great rewards. "I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2) and you "will receive an hundredfold..." (Matthew19:29) are only two of the many examples where Jesus makes us a partner with Him in doing the work of God -- a work which results in blessings that last forever. That is the reflection of true love -- making requests that will benefit the person who is being asked to do something.
We are human and we are physical. We get tired and have emotional highs and lows. There are times when we feel blue, and perhaps we feel hurt or not wanted. Stresses can build up to the point of a breakdown. Job pressures, physical changes, family struggles and other factors of life all play a role in damaging the pure minded attempt to really show love to one another. In some way every marriage or relationship goes through such highs and lows. We are not like God in that way. Our requests of one another may not be as pure-minded as God's requests. That is nothing to be ashamed of or to feel despondent about. It simply reflects the fact that we are not as great as God and our respect for Him ought to grow and grow.
It is within that realm of always considering the requests we make of others and the manner in which we make them that we have the opportunity to grow to be a bit more like God. We need to move from expressing the carnal reactions to life towards expressing the spiritual. Love, when expressed as God expresses it, is a godly act. It seeks the well-being of the other person. It is expressed well throughout 1 Corinthians 13.
We may slip from time to time, but we'll get up and learn from the slip. The righteous man falls seven times (Proverbs 24:16). You can only fall once if you never get back up. Let us learn from our human falling and let us get up and try again and again. Slowly, and then with growing confidence and joy, we will experience the same joy Jesus felt as He gave Himself for you and for me. The next time you say "I love you," I trust you will be thinking of what you can do to let that person know you sincerely want their happiness and well-being. It is in giving that we gain the most. You receive love only when you first give it away. Recommended reading For more on expressing godly Love and God's love for mankind, request our free literature and Copyright 2007 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved. |
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Keywords: love real love true love
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