1 Corinthians 13 is known as the "Love chapter". Verse 13 says,"and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love". When we think of love we may think of a relationship with someone or feelings towards someone. Maybe we think of hearts and sacrifice or a warm, fuzzy feeling inside about something. But sometimes through our actions of loving, we see pain show its ugly face. We may reach out to someone and they reject our love or we may have unrealistic expectations on how we should receive love or "lovely" things.
Through the ministry of foster care my husband and I have experienced this many times. We are not perfect parents by any means, and many days we probably look like we're a mess, but we do try to pour ourselves into these hurt children and love them. The rejection didn't seem so heart wrenching at first, but through years of having this feeling it starts to wear down on you. It's hard to understand how someone who came from neglect or abuse would hate the fact that someone is loving them and meeting their needs. We've learned through the years that kids act this way because it is us providing these needs for them and not their family members who are suppose to be. This angers them. Even though we know this and are not surprised when the rejection occurs, it still HURTS!
This whole scenario makes me think of Jesus and how many times I have rejected His love in my life. I am so thankful He is God and I am not. I would've gave up on myself years ago. Jesus paints a beautiful picture of unconditional love through the good and bad times. I Corinthians 13:4-8a says,"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails". Wow, that's a tall order to follow. When I read this passage I definitely see areas in my life where I need to look more like Jesus. In my prayers recently I have been praying about someone in my life who continues to reject my love and tries to hurt me, yet the right thing for me to do is to continue to pour out love to that person. Honestly, sometimes I don't want to though. Man do I ever need Jesus? I need Him, I need Him, I need Him. Only through Jesus can I love this person and only through Jesus can I see areas in my own life that need to change and surrender them at His feet. We all need Jesus!!!!!!!
Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.
