Are You Ready For Love?

Love is a noun, and encompasses the very being of who we are. It is passionate, strong, embracing, and audacious. It is the very thing that carries the way we treat others, and the way we treat ourselves. It has power to cancel out any hurt and fill us in an overflow of abundant joy. In turn, if we aren’t careful in who and how we love; it can turn to be abrupt, jealous, bitter, and heartbreaking.

It is why the Lord wrote in Song of Songs;

“..do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires” -Song of songs 2:7

We all want to be loved and often that leads us to desire and pursue relationships of romance with others. But in the desire for this we make haste, and we often arouse love with people God never intended for us to do so with. At least not in the timing or way we pursued and attempted it.

Please know I speak with grace to remind you that the Lord is proud of you for desiring love and attempting to pursue it. Simultaneously, I speak bluntly to say you fall short in loving others well. I fall short.

As I said, everyone wants to love and to be loved. Most want that one person to be with forever. But can we take a moment to pause and reflect?

If we are honest, most of us do not know how to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. Not with the kind of love God intended. So how can we expect to obtain the love we desire in marriage, if we can’t even love those who we don’t intend to pursue or marry. Even further to those who have caused us pain.

We desire an intimate relationship with those whom we desire to be loved by. Often ignoring others because they become of no benefit to us any longer. But is that the true definition of love? To love only in expectation to be loved? Surely not.

““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors, do they not do the same?”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭43‬-‭44‬, ‭46‬ ‭NASB2020‬‬

We’ve all been called to this love; a love that is self sacrificial. And we sure desire that from the people in our lives, heck sometimes we demand it.

But are you a person that would be seen as living sacrificially? Do you embody sacrifice and love in every area of your life? Or is that reserved for a fickle attempt in your dating?

Do you speak to God every morning and acknowledge, confess, and turn from your sins?

Do you encourage and pray for the one who is just a little draining to be around?

Do you sacrifice your fun plans when a friend is grieving and in distress?

Do you sharpen your people by calling them higher and reminding them of who God says they are?

Do you let go of people you love so that God can do the work that is His?

Do you humble yourself to remember you always have room to grow?

These are only a few questions, of a very long list of the ways, we are called to show up and pursue love towards one another.

If you can’t love now in a space full of people surrounding you, I promise, you won’t be able to when you get married either.

Pursue love now. Be kind now. Sacrifice now. How do we do that? We ask God, the only one who truly knows how. He’s only waiting on you.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” Psalm 32:8 NASB2020

So, in the words of Elton John…

Are you ready for love?

The Garden of Gethsemane