There have been times when I found myself struggling to love those around me, especially when they did things that hurt me.
It happened recently with a close loved one of mine. I had expectations from them, and waited for them to give me the love that I desired.
I waited...waited..and waited, and at the end I found myself left deeply wounded and not loved.
I simply just didn't have the motivation to love anymore.
I wanted to love them, but why couldn't I love them? It was at that moment when God revealed to me the reason why my love was running dry: I was using the wrong source and motivation to love.
I was depending on the other person to be my source and strength to love. But the problem was, I was waiting on a person to love and fill me when they were never made to love and fill me. Only God was made to love me.
When we come to know God more, we will see that his love is satisfying and overwhelming. God's love overflows in us so that we can pour out his love to others. If we wait on others to love us first before we love them, then we will find our love for them at a constant dead end because their love was never made to fuel our love. Only God's love was made to fuel us.
God's love fuels us to love others.
It's when we accept Jesus's unconditional love that we can then love others back. We can't give someone what we don't have. We can't pour out love to others when we ourselves don't have love in us. And that perfect love can only come from God.
God loves us even when he knows we can never be good enough to please him. God chooses to love us even while we were sinners, and he calls us to love others the same way. We must love others even when they do not deserve it. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
God gave us the example of what true love is, and that is choosing to love others despite who they are or what they did. True love is loving without expecting anything back from the other person. Jesus loved us not because we were holy or would had something to give him, but because he chose to love us.
Once we have received God's love, we can then pour that love out to others. Let God be the source and strength for your ability to love others. 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he first loved us." We can love others despite them hurting us when we experience God's love for us. God's love is greater and will surpass all the pain we experience from others.
You can love others because God has loved you. Before you try to go our there and love people, be sure to receive God's love in your heart first. You are all called to be the light of the world, and that can only be done when you have a heart that has been changed by God's love. God's glory shines even brighter when you love the undeserving.
May we all be overfilled with God's love so that we can pour it out onto others. We can love others as God has called us to when we stop expecting love from others, and start taking in the love that God has given to us. So remember, God's love is a love that fuels.
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