Ownership part 1
I saw a quote the other day, "Love without ownership." And it sent me spinning (right round, like a record player). Because I think about love a lot. I'm kind of obsessed with it. And if not having ownership is an aspect of love, then I think it's important. And I mean, I get what they were trying to say... we don't own each other. Not in the sense that we can control each other. We can't use love to get someone to do something. We can't use love to get... anything really. We don't love in order to get. We love because we have. So I get that. "If you love someone, set them free." And the truth of the matter is, they're free whether you love them or not. If you try to control them, or "own" them, then you'll just find out exactly how free they really are. But then I was thinking of Song of Solomon chapter six verse three, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine..." And I was thinking about 2 Corinthians 5:14 in the English Standard Version of the Bible, "For the love of Christ controls us..." So it seems that there ARE aspects of ownership when it comes to love. I told someone the other day that it is a very rare and beautiful thing when you pick someone to be "yours" AND they pick you back. Because it usually seems like one person is doing the picking and the other person is doing some settling. It seems as though we'd rather be with SOMEONE--even the WRONG someone--than be alone. And I think that's why so many relationships are so messed up. We act like we own the person, when really we don't even like them. And I think that's the aspect we need to have of "love without ownership." Love without expectation. Loving people simply because we are filled to overflowing WITH love, and we couldn't stop it from coming out even if we tried. That's a pure level of love. Agape love, if you will. But even as we love without ownership, I think it's important to understand that love... owns us! We are God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. And He is our beloved. I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine. There's a mutal ownership, if I can say it that way. Not, "I own you and you're my slave," (even though the Apostle Paul DID refer to himself as the prisoner, or the slave, of Christ), but, "We own each other." It's the idea put forth in Genesis 2:24, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." It's the joining together that love is famous for. Love unites us. Love is the glue that holds everything together. I don't own you, and you don't own me, but in a sense we own each other. I don't control love. Love is what it is--is WHO He is--and does what He does. But love DOES control me. Love owns me. Love leads me and guides me. Love protects me. Love strengthens me. I guess it's a different view of ownership. Not a slave and a master... but a Father and Son. A Lamb and His wife. And, as always, love is what makes all the difference. Because if I know my beloved loves me (and it kind of comes with the territory of Him BEING my beloved) then I know that I am His and He is mine. I'm CHOOSING to join to Him as one flesh. I'm CHOOSING to be owned. And it's the best choice I could ever make!