UnShaded Revelations

What does love look like to you? Communicating often? Roses daily? Perhaps a love note? Texting? I know…I know…they bought you your favorite pair of shoes? drink? Candy? So, they’ve gotta love you right? It wasn’t until I was in a serious relationship, that I realized everyone experiences, sees, and feels love differently.  What does Godly love look like? God calls for us to love (agápe) everyone (Matthew 22:39).  We’ve been given guidelines as to how to show love, experience love, and view love.

In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: Paul shows us the practice of love:

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures. Love never ends. There are gifts of prophecy, but they will be ended. There are gifts of speaking in different languages, but those gifts will stop. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will come to an end.

How many of us can truly say that in every aspect of our lives we practice the kind of love Paul speaks of? Recent circumstances and situations have caused me to re-evaluate how I love, the actions behind my love, and whether I’m loving in the Christian way.

Within the last year or so (even as recent as a month ago), God has been dealing with me about a particular individual.  Things had been said, conversations were had, and actions were taken toward me that offended me. **Think back to the Unforgiving post.** I never said anything, for the most part I kept my thoughts to myself, unless it was to my husband or those closest to me. My feelings turned from anger to hurt back to anger and I allowed it to keep building…I would be the first to tell you and anyone else: when I love, I love hard…friends, family, and anyone else included, but that was all until you upset me. After you’ve offended or upset me, a wall goes up and I don’t want to deal with you, but there’s a difference here, I had to deal with this person, due to my position in ministry.  I couldn’t understand why God was allowing this thorn to stay put or why nothing was changing. I wasn’t saying anything to them, I’d attempted to stop talking about it, I was cordial and held conversations with them, so why was I still being tested?

God revealed to me recently the reason there was no change was because I wasn’t changing.  My heart started to harden toward this person and everything they stood for.  While I ACTED okay with everything, I became angry when my husband would speak with them, I didn’t want my husband to speak with them (ministry purposes or not), I didn’t want anything that had to do with them in my space, and deep down I had a serious issue with them.  My husband, of course, gave me the “Love the hurt away” spill. but that’s not something I wanted to hear.  I didn’t WANT to love them, but I still WANTED to be SEEN as Christ-like. No one would ever know that I was on the verge of hating them, if I never said anything, right? WRONG.  I knew. It consumed my every thought. If they were around my attitude might change. I thought of ways to uncover EVERYTHING I KNEW they had done and that would somehow make ME right.  Everyone would see them for who they were; but what good would that do?  Would that change anything?

It hit me like a ton of bricks, I was going to be the reason our ministry FAILED, if I didn’t learn to LOVE and LOVE for REAL. I could not be the reason ministry failed. Hurt people hurt people and I refused to be the hurt person hurting anyone. As many people as our ministry will cause us to encounter, my unforgiveness and “unloving/non-loving” attitude could very well be the blockage that keeps our ministry from elevating.

How do we love people past our hurt?  Is it possible? Yes. Easy? Could be. Is it Worth it? Most definitely.

The answer is simple: Choose God. Choose LOVE.  God is LOVE. ❤️

Get past the hurts. Get past the judgements. Get OVER YOURSELF.

Be Patient. Be Kind. Be Selfless. Be True. Be the Epitome of 1 Corinthians 13. Be LOVE.