I want to loves like God loves. Yes, I want to lose weight, get finances under control, get the house clean, get organized. But more than anything else, I want to love like God loves. And in many areas, I have not. Especially when it comes to loving his children the way he does.
I know how I feel when people criticize or make fun of my children or my husband or my friends. There is that “Momma Bear” whoosh that comes through me and I am enraged and ready to take them out. I don’t want God to feel that whoosh about me, but I am afraid that’s how God feels when I speak ugly about his children. And every single person we come in contact with is his child, just like I am. Every verse that I cling to about how God loves me and has chosen me and will never forsake me was written about them just as much as it was for me.
Yes, I will still be frustrated by people, and I will disagree with their actions and I will think “What are they thinking?” But, my prayer is that in those moments, I will choose to extend grace and acceptance instead of judgment or condemnation, just as I would want for me and my loved ones. I pray I will pray for them, that they are in alignment with God’s will, and not assume that God’s will is the same as mine. And I will pray that if God choses to use me in their life, I will speak and act out of love after much prayer and Godly counsel with Godly friends, and it will be in God’s timing and his words that come from a loving heart. It is not my place to judge or criticize. I certainly don’t want to be judged or criticized as I try to get through this life. But I do want my brothers and sisters to speak up, again in love, if they see that I need help or direction. It’s not a hands off, but a love on.
I am very visual. In my mind, I see God’s love flowing through me like a river. There have been times I have l let boulders build up, blocking that flow. Boulders of resentment, anger, unforgiveness, envy. But God’s gentle, persistent love has worn the boulders down and I feel like the river is again flowing freely. I want God’s love to flow so completely through me that it spills out onto everyone that he puts in my path. I want to love on his people, my brothers and sisters, the way he loves us.
Psalm 46:4 says “There is a river whose streams make glad the City of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.” That is us when we allow God to reign in us. “God is within her. She will not fail. God will help her at the break of day.”
I want God’s power within me. I need God’s help to not fail. I want that stream to flow freely. I want to love.
I know how I feel when people criticize or make fun of my children or my husband or my friends. There is that “Momma Bear” whoosh that comes through me and I am enraged and ready to take them out. I don’t want God to feel that whoosh about me, but I am afraid that’s how God feels when I speak ugly about his children. And every single person we come in contact with is his child, just like I am. Every verse that I cling to about how God loves me and has chosen me and will never forsake me was written about them just as much as it was for me.
Yes, I will still be frustrated by people, and I will disagree with their actions and I will think “What are they thinking?” But, my prayer is that in those moments, I will choose to extend grace and acceptance instead of judgment or condemnation, just as I would want for me and my loved ones. I pray I will pray for them, that they are in alignment with God’s will, and not assume that God’s will is the same as mine. And I will pray that if God choses to use me in their life, I will speak and act out of love after much prayer and Godly counsel with Godly friends, and it will be in God’s timing and his words that come from a loving heart. It is not my place to judge or criticize. I certainly don’t want to be judged or criticized as I try to get through this life. But I do want my brothers and sisters to speak up, again in love, if they see that I need help or direction. It’s not a hands off, but a love on.
I am very visual. In my mind, I see God’s love flowing through me like a river. There have been times I have l let boulders build up, blocking that flow. Boulders of resentment, anger, unforgiveness, envy. But God’s gentle, persistent love has worn the boulders down and I feel like the river is again flowing freely. I want God’s love to flow so completely through me that it spills out onto everyone that he puts in my path. I want to love on his people, my brothers and sisters, the way he loves us.
Psalm 46:4 says “There is a river whose streams make glad the City of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.” That is us when we allow God to reign in us. “God is within her. She will not fail. God will help her at the break of day.”
I want God’s power within me. I need God’s help to not fail. I want that stream to flow freely. I want to love.