Have you ever thought about how unfair love is?
We all want to be loved. We might not expect everyone to love us, but we would really like someone to love us.
Love is one of those words that means so many things to so many people that its meaning gets blurred:
I love chocolate;
I love my dog;
I love my wife.
Yet, the way we use the word tells us what we really mean. I’m thinking about the “I love my wife” kind of love.
True love requires sacrifice, and that is costly.
Sacrifice is not about doing what you are supposed to do as a father or mother or child or Christian. Rather, sacrifice is giving up something that you value highly for something of greater importance.
Parents may sacrifice their personal desires and dreams for their children. That’s love.
People may sacrifice financially for a worthy cause by cutting out spending in an important area of life. That’s love.
Children may sacrifice their time for an activity or event that is meaningful to their parents. They give their time as their own choice and with a good attitude, not by force. That’s love.
True love forgives, and that is costly.
Forgiveness accepts the pain caused by another without holding them accountable.
A wife humiliates her husband by telling something personal that becomes public. He patiently accepts the shame and later embraces her without making her suffer. That’s love.
A friend borrows a tool but returns it broken. Without an angry word you quietly replace it at your own expense and still consider him your friend with no hard feelings. That’s love.
It’s the people at work/school. They don’t understand my religious convictions, so they say things and even pull pranks. I’m the but of their jokes. I just go my way and let it go. It drags me down, but I know that they don’t understand. I don’t hold it against them. That’s love.
True love requires sacrifice, and that is costly.
Sacrifice is not about doing what you are supposed to do as a father or mother or child or Christian. Rather, sacrifice is giving up something that you value highly for something of greater importance.
Parents may sacrifice their personal desires and dreams for their children. That’s love.
People may sacrifice financially for a worthy cause by cutting out spending in an important area of life. That’s love.
Children may sacrifice their time for an activity or event that is meaningful to their parents. They give their time as their own choice and with a good attitude, not by force. That’s love.
True love forgives, and that is costly.
Forgiveness accepts the pain caused by another without holding them accountable.
A wife humiliates her husband by telling something personal that becomes public. He patiently accepts the shame and later embraces her without making her suffer. That’s love.
A friend borrows a tool but returns it broken. Without an angry word you quietly replace it at your own expense and still consider him your friend with no hard feelings. That’s love.
It’s the people at work/school. They don’t understand my religious convictions, so they say things and even pull pranks. I’m the but of their jokes. I just go my way and let it go. It drags me down, but I know that they don’t understand. I don’t hold it against them. That’s love.
Do you think you deserve to be loved?
Deserve means that you are worthy, fit or suitable for receiving a reward. Parents are supposed to love their kids. Husbands and wives are supposed to love each other. Christians are supposed to love one another.
Deserve means that you are worthy, fit or suitable for receiving a reward. Parents are supposed to love their kids. Husbands and wives are supposed to love each other. Christians are supposed to love one another.
Are any of us deserving...really deserving?
Love sacrifices.
Love forgives.
A baby is born and the parents are immediately filled with love for that child. It doesn’t make sense. That child has made no contributions to the family, provided nothing of value, deserves nothing. Yes there is affection, strong affection, but there is also sacrificial love and, in the future, undeserved forgiveness.
I can read all the definitions of love, approximate its meaning with illustrations, and even study it as a Bible topic. Yet, the words of Jesus still mystify me. I understand the words, but I don’t think that I can ever completely grasp...
Love is so unfair...He has forgiven...me.
Love is so unfair...He has given life...to me.
A person begins to sound all high and mighty when he says that things are unfair. But do you know what is unfair?
Love sacrifices.
Love forgives.
A baby is born and the parents are immediately filled with love for that child. It doesn’t make sense. That child has made no contributions to the family, provided nothing of value, deserves nothing. Yes there is affection, strong affection, but there is also sacrificial love and, in the future, undeserved forgiveness.
I can read all the definitions of love, approximate its meaning with illustrations, and even study it as a Bible topic. Yet, the words of Jesus still mystify me. I understand the words, but I don’t think that I can ever completely grasp...
For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son….Love is so unfair...He sacrificed His Son...for me.
Love is so unfair...He has forgiven...me.
Love is so unfair...He has given life...to me.
A person begins to sound all high and mighty when he says that things are unfair. But do you know what is unfair?
Love is really unfair!
Mark Stinnett
Mark Stinnett
October 6, 2019
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