Love Is part 3
When you love somebody, it's not about you. It's about them. Seeing a need that THEY have and meeting that need. That's what our heavenly Father did for us when He gave us His only begotten Son. He didn't want us to perish. He wanted us to experience Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love. Jesus didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could (again) experience it as HE lives His own life in us, and through us, and as us. Having a kid doesn't give you a slave for life. And having a kid doesn't make you a "parent." Putting your kid first makes you a parent. Doing what you do for THEM. Sacrificing yourself. Those are the lessons God taught us. That is the love God showed us. Love is giving everything you have and everything you are. Laying your life down for your friends. Putting others first. If your mindset is, "I want..." then it's not love. Because love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. "I want" is selfish and self-centered. Truly living life is about being Christ-centered. Which means being people-centered. Being selfless instead of being selfish. Esteeming others higher than yourself. Putting the needs (and sometimes the wants) of others ahead of your own needs and wants. And, I'm telling you, Acts 20:35 is such an important truth: "I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." If you want to feel love... love somebody. Stop trying to get things you think you don't have. Give what you've got. Love is giving. If I haven't mentioned that yet. Receiving is important, because you can't give what you don't have, and you can only give what you do have. But you don't just receive for receiving's sake. You receive SO THAT you can release what you've received. And that second part is more blessed. The first part--receiving--is necessary. In order to get us to the second part. And the second part is what really brings it all together. The receiving is what makes life worth living. The second part is HOW we live our life. Because to live is to love. To love is to live. You can't have one without the other and you can't do one without the other. Putting others first is what love is. Supporting the weak. Living out of our abundance. Not over-stretching or over-reaching. But, if we have two coats, and someone is cold... that's pretty easy math. Give what you've got. And in the giving, experience the joy--the love--that you've been given. To end this Rant tonight, let me give you a key to the kingdom: In order to truly love someone, you have to have a relationship with them. You have to understand what needs they have. "See a need and meet it" sounds pretty simple, but if you don't see it--if you don't see THEM--how are you going to be able to meet that need? How are you going to be able to love someone else if all you can think about is yourself?