Isn’t It Lovely?

 

Love is boundless, though so often we limit its borders. Love can hurt like a knife in your heart. It can cause a mighty river of tears to flow from the eyes creating floods in the soul. Its wings can soar deep within, thus allowing you to fly to heights you never knew possible. Jesus spoke of “love” being the 1st and 2nd most important commandments in the Bible. I’ve found that the 2nd commandment isn’t possible to obey without obedience to the 1st. God first commands us to love Him with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths.

To love thyself, you must first find yourself engrossed in the Love of Jesus.

I can’t stress enough the importance of falling in love with Him. It isn’t as hard as you think. We fall in love with people everyday over the craziest of reasons, so why not fall in love with Jesus. My theme this year has been to fall in love with Love Himself. “God is Love”, the Bible tells us. His Love goes well beyond our mere limitations. We can’t limit God’s Love to our form of human love. It isn’t an equal correlation in the slightest! If God can show you a Love greater than what any human can give you, then doesn’t it make sense to fall in love with Him more so than the temporal?

 

Falling in Love with Jesus is as sweet as it gets. It’s the greatest Love story of all time. A God who creates something out of nothingness simply because He desires someone to Love. He forms you. His Love for you is so incredibly deep that He wraps Himself in dirt (flesh) just so He can die for you and suffer the pain of a human being: His life for the price of the sin you are inevitably born into because of man’s tragic fall. Then, He comes back to life and ascends into heaven where He’s created an unbelievable home for you to spend an eternity by His side in His Love. All you have to do is follow the instructions He left for you (Plan of Salvation) and simply fall in love with Love Himself. You can’t convince me that it isn’t the most beautiful/truthful story you’ve ever heard. It’s so beautiful and yet –

This is not a fairy tale – this is real life!

While you are obeying the 1st commandment, (which will take a wonderful lifetime because it is always growing :), then you can work on the 2nd commandment.

” … Love thy neighbor as thyself … “

Do you love yourself? If you don’t have the correct sort of love for yourself then it’s possible that you end up hating your neighbor because you also hate yourself – even if you are trying your best to love them – which is obviously not obeying the Word in the correct way. If He said to love as you love yourself, He doesn’t mean that if you hate yourself then hate everyone else also …

I have found two extremes when it comes to a person loving themselves:

Exhibit A:  ” I do things for me. I can’t help anyone else because my self-love has overpowered my self-will. Become my servants you peasants! Bla-Bla-Bla …”

Exhibit B:  ” I just can’t love myself. I’m not worthy enough to be loved. I’m nothing, therefore I can’t accept God’s love because I don’t see myself as anything. Bla-Bla-Bla …”

 

Both of these cases are extremes. Both are trapped by false interpretations of ” love thyself.”  “Exhibit A” , is too full of pride to “love thy neighbor.” “Exhibit B”, is too full of self-pity to ” love thy neighbor.” There is a balance between the two. Once you’ve learned to follow the 1st commandment, then “B” will not be an issue for you anymore. You can’t love God and accept all that He has for you with that kind of attitude. In its own way, “B”, is also a form of pride. Don’t allow yourself to be tricked into believing that you are too low for God’s Love. That attitude insults the depths and abilities of God’s Love. “A”, completely insults God because it insinuates that you are higher than He and therefore are above servitude. Jesus became as a servant to those on the earth. Getting close to either extreme will not only disrupt the way God commands us to treat others, but also the way we will treat Him.

Falling in Love with Jesus will eliminate your self-esteem issues. It will deteriorate your concept of self until all of the coal is chipped away and the diamond that God sees in you can be seen in yourself. It will humble you to the point of genuine servitude for all mankind, no matter the status. Falling in love with Love Himself will show you avenues that you didn’t even know true love created.

I challenge you to go fall in love. <3