Dominate Me, Lord
What does love look like? Most of what I do is not love. It is self-love, and it's discouraging. To be discouraged at myself for not being loving is self-centered also. "Everywhere I go, there I am." (Sigh)
Many of us are trapped in the maze of self. I think when Paul said that he "poured himself out" for others, gets close in describing what love is. Of course, it was Christ in him that made that possible, as it is for us.
How love plays itself out in daily life is the real bump and grind of it all. We don't need to look any further than our own homes and the relationships in it, to see if we have love or not.
We tend to think of others we want to show love to, such as the outcasts of society, to "prove" we are loving, but to have occasional contact with them, and, be loving (or appear that way) is not hard. We go home, feeling proud of ourselves, then don't show that same behavior to our own spouses or children.
My husband said a truth many years ago to another man, which was-"How you treat your wife is a good measure of how Christ-like you truly are." And I might add, "And don't measure that yourself-ask her if she feels loved by you." That would be a truer assessment of things. (And visa-versa. Wife asking husband.)
How do we get beyond ourselves? Do we just "let" the other one in a relationship always have their way? Is that love? Or do we remind the other of their selfishness, thereby risking their anger towards us, but truly doing it in order to help them?
It's obvious that "love" cannot be defined as it is played out in daily life one way or the other, but only as we let the Spirit take control of our being. It is only by his Spirit that pure and true love is released. We, within ourselves, have no such love. It is always laced with impure motives and hooks of one kind or another.
The only way to release the Spirit in us is to ask God to remove the dams which block His flow. This process is the one of "making all things new", or in giving Him access to our souls, as He conforms us to the image of Christ.
I say it again and again and again, "even so, come Lord Jesus come." By that I am telling God to continue His process in me, despite the confusion, the pain, the doubt, the fear, the restlessness and the feelings of despair, loneliness and of even of feeling unloved by Him that this process may invoke. In this way, His name and love will be magnified through me. And it will be His love only and not mine which will heal the world-even the world in our own homes; that is, if we open up to it.
Many of us are trapped in the maze of self. I think when Paul said that he "poured himself out" for others, gets close in describing what love is. Of course, it was Christ in him that made that possible, as it is for us.
How love plays itself out in daily life is the real bump and grind of it all. We don't need to look any further than our own homes and the relationships in it, to see if we have love or not.
We tend to think of others we want to show love to, such as the outcasts of society, to "prove" we are loving, but to have occasional contact with them, and, be loving (or appear that way) is not hard. We go home, feeling proud of ourselves, then don't show that same behavior to our own spouses or children.
My husband said a truth many years ago to another man, which was-"How you treat your wife is a good measure of how Christ-like you truly are." And I might add, "And don't measure that yourself-ask her if she feels loved by you." That would be a truer assessment of things. (And visa-versa. Wife asking husband.)
How do we get beyond ourselves? Do we just "let" the other one in a relationship always have their way? Is that love? Or do we remind the other of their selfishness, thereby risking their anger towards us, but truly doing it in order to help them?
It's obvious that "love" cannot be defined as it is played out in daily life one way or the other, but only as we let the Spirit take control of our being. It is only by his Spirit that pure and true love is released. We, within ourselves, have no such love. It is always laced with impure motives and hooks of one kind or another.
The only way to release the Spirit in us is to ask God to remove the dams which block His flow. This process is the one of "making all things new", or in giving Him access to our souls, as He conforms us to the image of Christ.
I say it again and again and again, "even so, come Lord Jesus come." By that I am telling God to continue His process in me, despite the confusion, the pain, the doubt, the fear, the restlessness and the feelings of despair, loneliness and of even of feeling unloved by Him that this process may invoke. In this way, His name and love will be magnified through me. And it will be His love only and not mine which will heal the world-even the world in our own homes; that is, if we open up to it.
(I recommend watching this when you are undistracted and truly take into your spirit the prayer and messages portrayed by the images. It will stir you, and increase your desire for His coming back in victory.)
posted by Patti Blount @ 8:40 AM
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