This article was written by one of my very good friends, Mary Jo Sandy. I love her honesty about love. Thanks for your transparency Mary Jo…I love you!
You want the straight up truth? Here it is: God is love. When you think about love, what do you think of? Personally, if you love someone, I think it means this: your affection is unconditional…there is nothing they could possibly do to loose your care for them, you want the best for them, you would do absolutely anything for them, you care about their happiness more then your own, and if you were to hurt of disappoint them-you would not be able to live with it unless they forgave you. This aside from, of course, love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy…etc. In a song Shawn McDonald sings there is a line that stood out to me…”It’s so hard to fathom the pain in your eyes as your watching you children doing what you despise”…and later it says…”It’s so hard to fathom all the feelings inside as your watching your people choosing to die”. If you think about those lines it is actually quite amazing. How many people do you love, and I mean truly love, that do all the things that you absolutely hate? If God loves us even though we are out there doing things he hates and in the end choosing death over the life he wants to give us, then what the heck are we doing? If someone loves you that much and nothing you could do could change those feelings for you and he died for you…how can you not love someone who would do that? Can you honestly say that if someone died for you that you would not love them? It would be ridiculous not to. People always seem to jump to the thought that following Christ is this whole set of rules you have to follow and that its miserable and takes away all of your fun and traps you, taking away all your freedom. The truth is actually the exact opposite. God is the only who can really set us free by his grace, mercy, and love. Look back at how we defined love…if you say you love someone do you consider it hard loving them? Of course not. If you love someone, you love them. You would do anything to see them happy and to keep from hurting them. So then whats the problem? Why is it said that following God is so hard? If you confess that you love him, then give up what you need to live your life for him. No one ever said that living for Christ would be a piece of cake but when you experience the sincere love and presence of God you never want anything else. The way you love here on earth is how you should love God. And how awesome is it to know that he loves you way more then you could ever love him or even imagine. Were talking about the guy who invented love here. A love that never fails, a love that never changes, a love that always hopes and is always there, how could you not want that? I thought for the longest time that giving my life to God would be the worst thing ever. I was so scared of being alone, loosing all my friends, and having to give up everything and everyone that meant anything to me. But living life without God just wasn’t working for me, I wasn’t going anywhere but down. It took a lot to get my attention and convince me that I just couldn’t live my life without God. I had to hit rock bottom but I’m happy I did. I had to give up a lot of things in my life but God is always faithful and he never leaves your side. Yes it is hard, but it is so worth it. Instead of being lonely I found I had a constant companion. Instead of being afraid I found that I can face anything with him by my side and he will not let me go up against anything I can not overcome. Instead of falling to my weaknesses he turned them around and made them my strengths. Don’t go your whole life thinking that living for God is a set of rules and that it’s not worth it or that you can put it off until later. Take advantage of him now and he can change your life. I stand for God and God alone. We are here to love everyone as God loves us, to serve God and others, to tell everyone about God’s story and his love for us, and to bring glory to the one person in this world who accepts us for who we truly are, God. What better way to show your love for God then by honoring him with your life? When everyone else is gone and all that is left is me and who I really am, I am a happy girl because I know who I am in Christ and nothing can change that. =)
