Love Lessons
There they were. In the sink. Piles of dirty dishes filled with skanky water. Bits of food floated around in the cloudy liquid like tiny sea creatures trapped in a contaminated fish bowl. Her heart dropped.
Only a few hours before, she left this same kitchen sparkling clean…dishes washed…countertop clear…dinner leftovers neatly stored in the refrigerator. She had an event to attend that evening and was just now returning. It was late. She was tired.
But there they were. Her husband had come home while she was gone. Fixed himself some dinner, and now he sits on the couch, feet up on the coffee table, watching TV.
“Why?” she angrily thinks. “Why can’t he just clean up after himself?”, “Didn’t he see that the kitchen was clean? Didn’t he see what I had done?” Her anger grows as her thoughts spiral, “I’ve asked him over and over not to leave dirty dishes filled with water in the sink! He expects me to do all the cooking and cleaning! I hate how he’s pigeon-holed me into this role!”
Her husband calls to her from the living room and asks how her night went. She bites the angry retort balanced on her tongue and quickly walks past him to the bedroom muttering something to appease his curiosity. She knows her thoughts have gotten the best of her. She knows she needs to calm down before really responding to him. She sits on the bed and puts her head in her hands.
Her heart cries out as tears threaten, “Father! Do you see? Lord…make him see.”
The Father responds. “I see child. I see. Let it go. Let me have it.”
“I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.” (AMP)
John 13:34-35
In all our day-to-day, when others treat us in ways we don’t like, or make us mad, don’t we think of ways we can subtly withhold our love from them, or change our behavior to get them back? I’m not going to do this now, or I’ll leave that out for them to deal with. And at the same time pray for God to change them.
Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”
How do we expect God to listen to our prayers, when we harbor such resentment and anger at others? Even if it’s small? The size of a grudge makes no difference. A grudge is a grudge. And sin is sin.
Yes, it’s hard. That’s why loving people is not a feeling, or an emotion. It’s a choice. You choose to love. You choose to let little irritations go and trust God when He says He’ll attend to the other person. It is not our job to change people. It’s our job to love them.
Our love for each other is proof to the world that we belong to Jesus. There must be evidence of it. Does the world know that you belong to the Father?
Is your love showing?
“By this everyone will know that you are My disciples.”
“By this everyone will know.”
Just love, and the world will know.
Just. Love.
Dear Father, I know I’m commanded to love others, but some people are so hard to love! Can you please help me with this? When I can’t love others, please take over and give me the strength to do whatever it takes to show Your love. Because I know there are so many times that I’m not easy to love either. Thank you Lord! Amen.
