Who Knows You, and still loves you?

"To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.  To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.  But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God.   It is what we need more than anything."

page 101
The Meaning of Marriage
Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller

Love = Give Yourself For Them

As I was reading Ephesians 5:25, it hit me:  Love equals giving myself for the other.

Here is what it says:

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her."

Love is not ~ "what's in it for me."  Love is ~ what's in it for you.

What do you give yourself over for?  We show what we love by giving ourselves to it, for it.

I would think a lot of people would answer that question with their work.  But do you love your work?
Probably not.  You probably do it for your family, to provide for your family, who you do love.
If you are not giving of yourself to another or to a cause, you are probably not loving well, if at all.

Give yourself:  Love another.

Who Really Deserves It?

“People need loving the most when they deserve it the least.”

~ Louise Hay ~

Is love panting in your heart?

"Let love not visit you as a transient guest, but be the constant ruling temper of your soul.  See that your heart be filled at all times and on all occasions with real, undissembled benevolence; not to those only that love you, but to every soul of man.  Let it pant in your heart; let it sparkle in your eyes, let it shine on all your actions.  Whenever you open your lips, let it be with love…"
John Wesley (1703-1791)

Begin with Listening

The first service one owes to others in the fellowship consists in listening to them. Just as love of God begins in listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren is learning to listen to them. It is God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but lends us His ear. So it is His work that we do for our brother when we learn to listen to him. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

What is the result of your thinking?

I found it interesting to see how the editors of The NIV Stewardship Study Bible described love:

…is not a feeling…so not let their emotions control them
…is an act of the will
…to act on behalf of our neighbor's good
…is unconditional…given regardless of the response of the recipient
…is sacrificial
…is the result of hard moral thinking

They quote John H. Westerhoff in his church's aim "to share an authentic love that draws humanity and God together."

(page 425)

Which is it?

In reading Carolyn Moor's encouragement for the new year, through her work at Modern Widows Club, I was encouraged that more need to hear this than widows:

"To be brave and open to being loved in this world, we must first become love itself. It is the difference between saying 'I want to be loved' vs. 'I want to be love'."  (http://modernwidowsclub.com)

Be encouraged to be love yourself.  First give love.  Love finds love.