Reflecting on Week 7, Day 3: Love from Doug Bender’s new book, Live Second: 365 Ways to Make Jesus First {buy it here: Live Second and bonus! If you buy before December 15, author Doug Bender is offering an amazing bonus which you can find here.}
Check out: Mark 12:28 – 34
I chose this topic to kick off my posts because when I think of living second, I think of loving God first. And I also think of loving others before myself.
When I was younger I used to think of love as being this amazing feeling, you have it all the time. Everything is happy. Everyone is happy. Life is good. Love will make it all better.
Then, I got older.
Life happened. I realized that life is not always happy. That love sometimes doesn’t last.
But love can last. Even through the icky stuff. It’s that euphoric, over the top feeling that will never last.
Every relationship I have ever had (parents, siblings, children, dating, etc) goes through changes. It’s that ebb and flow of life.
There is a person in my life, whom I love so much. I have known them since before I had memories, they are a big part of the fabric that makes up my life story. My life wouldn’t be what it is today if they were not a part of it. But our story is not all happy. There has been deep and immense pain in this relationship. Broken trust. Some of my greatest pain has been born from this person. Times of not feeling love. Times when I really truly felt that I didn’t ever want to see them again. Deep wounds that have healed, but left a scar on my heart.
Thankfully I have another person in my life, who also loves this person and loves Jesus. They consistently spend time in prayer for us. Offer a shoulder to cry on when they pain gets too much.
But healing has come. It happened slowly. After a devastating event, I cut myself off. No calls. No visits. No nothing. I did not want to see them or talk to them. This went on for six months (an eternity for us). Through the prayers of a small little girl, my heart began to heal and soften. Contact was made. Redemption. It hasn’t been all smooth sailing, but it gets better most days.
Over the years, a lot of reading, and even more prayers I have learned a significant truth. Hurt people hurt people. And only God can bring the kind of healing that will mend those hurts. But sometimes people are so shut off that they don’t want to hear about or from God. It’s easier to wallow in their own hurt and self-pity.
That’s where love comes in. Our love for them. Our love for God. I could not love this person in my life the way that I am able to without God. Humanly, I couldn’t do it. It’s too hard. But God breathes this beautiful love for them into my heart, that sustains even when the happy love feeling is no where to be found.
And because God has given me this beautiful love, I can show them that love. But I had to make a choice. A choice to accept the love God has for me. A choice to show that love even through my own pain and hurt. And sometimes I don’t make the right choice. But thankfully God continues to work on me and His love is unconditional. Available. And it redeems the broken. Overcomes the wrong choices. Offers healing.
In the devotional, Doug Bender, writes, “Love is not a feeling.” Amen. It’s not a feeling at all. Sometimes it comes with a feeling. But love itself is not a feeling.
He goes on to say that love is, “The reason for our creation and the foundation of all relationships.” If we don’t accept that, our life’s purpose will be unfulfilled. Our relationships will end without that foundation. Life is meaningless without God’s love.
I hope that you have chosen to accept God’s love for you. To live for Him first and foremost. Because in living second, there is immense freedom. There is joy where it seems impossible; hope in the darkest of places; and healing in the most shattered and broken places.
Love Jesus. Love others. Live Second.
Kupenda 127 