Love that Flows

    "Love does not demand it's own way."  This is a phrase in the famous I Cor. 13 chapter describing the attributes of love. God also tells us to "esteem others better than ourselves," which expresses a similar thing. "Others directed" is the way our hearts should face, as we release His own love through our vessels.
     This yielding or deferring to one another is a key, I believe, to not only making the Body function as He desires, but also marriages. I went to a wedding this weekend and the person conducting the ceremony reminded us that "dying to self" is one of the main factors to it's success. I was enriched by it's message, as I pondered it in relationship to my own. Of course, that was tested on the ride home.
     The only way we can do that is by the power of the Holy Spirit, not in our own strength, because it is against our nature, that is purely self -centered. So with that said, releasing love period does not come out of our flesh, but out of His Spirit within us. We just have to decide to do it, and expect a battle within when we do.
     When love does not demand it's own way, it offers the other person his/her way, and truly all conflicts cease. The only time to "fight" is when the other person wants you to join them in something which violates your conscience before God. Deferring or yielding to another's way is another way of saying that we don't demand ours.
     Lord, help me let your love flow from me to my husband first, to the Body of Christ and  the world, that they may know you have come. Amen.