Success! part 4
I suppose it comes down to what you're trying to accomplish. If you're trying to get something, then you aren't dealing with love at all. And even though you might think you're loving someone, you will be left wondering why "love" wasn't enough. Because love is never about getting. Love IS giving. Giving everything you are and everything you have for others. Even though it feels like the more you love people the less they love you. That's where our expectations screw us up. We think "love" should be received the way WE would receive it, and we think it should be returned the way WE want it to be returned. But sometimes I think something happens to people and they don't know how to react. Let me show you an example. The baby Jesus was born. "And all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:18-19). Sometimes that's all you can do; just store it up in your heart. Sometimes you don't understand why someone would be so nice to you. You're speechless. Well, if that person is looking for a response they aren't going to be satisfied. But kindness isn't kindness if it requires a reward. Love isn't love unless it is freely given. And look at what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:6 (NLT), "I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow." If we look at "success" as an immediate return on investment we are going to be disappointed. Because a seed doesn't grow overnight. If you plant a seed and then immediately dig it up and wonder why it hasn't given you the harvest... you aren't much of a farmer. And as Paul was saying, it's a team effort. Sometimes that random act of kindness will be treasured and pondered in someone's heart, just waiting for an opportunity to grow. I think we really limit (or quench?) the Holy Spirit when we don't give people opportunities. We require so much of people that they oftentimes buckle under the weight of yoke. They were all fired up to release what they received, but we made them jump through a bunch of religious hoops and rained all over their parade. Didn't Jesus just tell people to go forth? Didn't the early church just lay hands on people and send them out? Plant a seed and let it grow. Or water a seed that's already been planted. But don't think someone else's response is your responsibility. One of the most freeing things that ever happened to me was when I first started ministering. My pastor told me, "You can't make people do anything. You can't make them listen, and you can't make apply what you teach. All YOU can do is listen to God and do what He leads you to do." And from that point on I was off and running. Not driving myself crazy trying to modify people's behavior, but simply shouting the good news as loudly as I could. Not telling people what to do, but telling people who they are. And then trusting the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them. Letting GOD make it grow. Judging success by what I do instead of how others respond to it. Making sure I'm deep in Daddy's love, overflowing with it so it gets on whoever I come into contact with, and not worrying about what they do with it. Loving because it's what I have, not because there's something I'm trying to get!