I am loved and I love. Many of us use the word love as a situational stage in life as opposed to a state of being. The hardest thing about loving, is accepting the pain that can exist within those relationships. When I speak of pain, I do not speak of physical or verbal abuse; I speak of the boundary that we all must set in order to let go, which allows the Lord to move through us like a wave consuming us. When we do this, we acknowledge our powerlessness and rely on love to carry us. Love is not easy, it is hard. We love our families and friends though the toughest situations they face; alcohol and drug abuse, infidelities, lying, cheating, stealing, moving from home to home, leaving for college, getting married, welcoming in new children, raising teenagers, the list is endless.
Yet still, the greatest of these is love.
Love is patient, love is kind, love is not boastful or jealous, it does not envy, it does not keep track of wrongs. Love is pure. It remembers the gutter that we have all stuck our toes in and we were then carried away from and out of based on grace. Through love, I admit that I need love. As an addict must admit, I am powerless without love; due to this, I need the Lord to show love through me in which I am incapable of doing through my own power. I turn both my strengths and weaknesses to God.
I have seen my actions and behaviors through my life, and I recognize that love has not always been my cornerstone and I pray and ask for forgiveness from all of those whom I have failed by loving them through my selfishness instead of through the perfect love of God. I admit that I am not better than anyone who is currently alive and breathing, and my judgement of others shows a lack of love. I am ready to take on a new perspective of what is means to love and I humbly ask Him to reveal my shortcomings when I judge. I open my mind and heart to all of those who I have made feel less than and am willing to hear, acknowledge and accept how I must grow in the way I love.
I will, through God, live a life built on a foundation of accountability. I will seek the goodness of the Lord all the days of my life and I will spread the message of love to all of whom I come in contact.
Again, love is not easy, it is hard. But the greatest gift anyone can receive, is Love.
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