Naturally part 3
Love doesn't demand its (HIS) own way. That's important. Because that means if we ARE demanding OUR own way... we aren't operating in love. Love is never about getting. Because love IS giving. And if we're not operating in love we're going against our new (true) nature. Let me say that again: If we're not operating in love we're going against our new (true) nature. Because love isn't just what we do. Love is who we are. Because love isn't just what God does. Love is who God is. And as He is, so are we in this world. We are in Him because He is in us. We are in love because love is in us. I always quote the idea of "Let's make prayer first choice not last chance." Because my favorite verse in the Bible is 1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing." But what is prayer except the language of love? Talking and (equally if not more importantly) listening to God. You can't follow your heart if you don't know what it (HE) is saying. And I just got done telling you what love ISN'T saying. Love ISN'T saying, "My way or the highway." Love ISN'T saying, "Gimme gimme gimme." Love is saying, "Here I am. Send me. This is everything I have and everything I am. All for you." Laying your life down for your friends. And understanding that you destroy your enemies by MAKING them your friends. By loving the hell out of them. Understanding that there are only two kinds of people in this world: Friends that know they are our friends... and friends that don't know it yet, but are shortly going to find out. And, as always, I'm not saying you should ever put, or keep, yourself in a bad or abusive situation. But even when you love people from afar, you can still love them. Sometimes staying away from people is the best--only--way TO love them. But I digress. My point is, well, let me say it like this: "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (1 John 4:20). In other words, we can't love God unless we love people. Because we love God BY loving people. You can't have one without the other. Because God lives IN people. When Jesus was lifted up on the cross He drew all men into Himself. All men that had ever been or would ever be. Women too. Mankind. All of us. And it doesn't matter if someone knows about the cross or not. They will know about God when you show them love. When you act according to your true nature. Not by demanding anything from anybody--I've always said and continually find it 100% true, that if you have to beg someone for something, its not worth it. Even if you get it, its not worth it--not by demanding anything from anybody... but by giving everybody what you've got. By letting the love that's inside come out. Naturally. By knowing and believing that its in there. And, listen, I'll be the first to admit that I play favorites. I can't help it. There are certain people in my life that I would literally do ANYTHING for. But that doesn't mean that I don't have enough love for everybody else. Because life isn't about what you get. Its about what you give. Even the times in my life when I do get something... what I remember is who gave it to me. That's what really matters. Giving. Sharing. Living. Loving. And it doesn't have to be a struggle. You don't have to make people earn earn it, or discriminate between who gets it and who doesn't. You can just fill yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with and let it come out naturally!