Value part 2
The reward of a good deed is in the doing. If you're looking to get something... then you've missed out on the truth that you already have something. And if you're trying to use LOVE to get something... then you don't understand love at all. Because love is never about getting. Love IS giving. And this has to do with yesterday's Rant because when we begin to understand that behavior is communication, and that people do things because they think they have some sort of value, we need to be careful with our own actions. Jesus said it like this, "And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get" (Matthew 6:16 NLT). Which is to say, we don't do in order to be. We do BECAUSE we be. If we're looking for a reward, then we've totally missed it. If the value of a thing is getting, then it's not worth it. I've said this MANY time, "If you have to beg for something, even if you get it, it's not worth it." And if you have to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow then you aren't resting. You aren't trusting your heavenly Father to provide for you. You aren't receiving and releasing the gift you've already been given. And, again, all of this has to do with SERVING instead of being served. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. So if you're focusing on GETTING, you CAN'T be focused on GIVING. And, again, love IS giving. The value of loving someone is in the doing. Remember my definition for love? Gladly giving everything you have and everything you are no matter what the response. Even though it seems like the more you love the less you ARE loved. Because even though people are desperate for love... it is the most basic human desire... people are terrified of love. I really believe that's why we look for love in all the wrong places. Why we get into--and stay in--abusive relationships. Because as badly as we want someone who will love us to the moon and back, we don't really believe that's possible. Or we don't really believe we deserve that kind of love. So we settle. Because we think something is better than nothing. And sometimes it is. But sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it's better to have nothing than the wrong thing. I think today I'm talking about valuing ourselves, and our own actions. I'm going to focus on understanding why others do what they do. That's still the main theme of this Rant series. But I think it's important that we don't get caught in the trap of setting ourselves up for disappointment (or failure) by placing value on the wrong things. If you think love is about getting... well... "If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much" (Matthew 5:46 NLT). If you have a motive for loving people then you're not really loving them. If you only give in order to get then that's not love. And you have put the value on the wrong thing. The value of love is in the loving. Giving it away. Putting the value on other people and esteeming them higher than yourself. Seeing a need and meeting it. Because if you see a need you better believe the person IN need has put a big time value on their need. And when you fill it... man... that's something special!