Stop keeping records

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.~John 3:16

I have been thinking a lot about love lately.  I have turned over thoughts in my head about how I love and how God loves and some of my conclusions embarrass me, but light is good for the soul.

I am so grateful that God love me because His love  is unconditional.  He gave His life for me so that I can be free in Him before I did anything at all.  My face was not turned toward Him. I had no understanding of my need for Him.  I was lame in my thinking and blind in my understanding of love.  I was a sinner and yet He still lavished His love on me because He wanted me to be okay.  He wanted me to have life even while I was rejecting it.  God loved me and He expresses His love for me daily and I can add nothing to it.  It is only by His grace that I am saved and loved like this.

All of these things are true and have always been true, but God wants me to further than just understanding His love for me.  He wants me to think like Him and apply what I am learning in my relationships with others.  I have to apply what I know about love and I have to love like He does, unconditionally. 

Step 1: Stop keeping records of wrongs.

Loving others like Him means I keep no record of wrongs ( 1Corinthians 13:5).  This is a definite area in my life that needs to be addressed especially with those who are closest to me.   Perhaps you don’t have this issue, but I find myself pulling up the past when someone hits that button or I if think they are trying to use me.  I use their past actions like a scale to determine if they “deserve”  X,Y, or Z.  In essence I am trying to justify if they deserve a blessing while at the same time trying to give myself an excuse for not giving it based on my review of their past.

Well, there is no excuse and my thinking is absolute garbage because it is not love.  I am not God, just His servant and He has commanded me to love like Him.  So my thinking has to change and align to His. I must love without exception and expectation of something in return.  I must give love away freely because who am I to judge?  Whom am I to say who deserves anything?  I do not earn God’s love and yet, He gives it to me anyway.  I must follow Him and love like Him. So that “scale” needs to be destroyed.  Yes, I am human, but when you know better you do better.   I’m sure additional steps will follow 😊, but for now I will work on mastering this one through the power of His Spirit and love.

Father, I thank You for your unfailing love.  Thank You for showing me a better way, your way.  Forgive me for being stingy with your love.  May I be intentional in loving others like You love all of us.  In Jesus name. Amen