Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love. (Romans 13:8)
Sum it all up and what really matters at the end of a person's life? I'd have to say it is that we have loved and lived well. Love others well and your life will be lived well. It would be terrible to go through life without having known love, but how many of us go through life being 'stingy' with our love? We have been hurt by others, so we pull in a bit and don't put ourselves out there like we should. We have hurt ourselves, so we we see ourselves as 'not worth the investment', holding ourselves back from others because of this untruthful view of ourselves. Love well, my friends and you might just be surprised how well your life begins to be 'lived'. I will not make light of your having been hurt by others, but the time for healing has come. It is time to move past hurts that are really part of our 'past' and begin to put ourselves out there so we can begin to really live in the 'present'.
God isn't after anything other than our 'outgoing love'. If you have ever taken notice, you will soon realize scripture doesn't have to tell us to love ourselves. Some have believed the lie that until we can love ourselves it is impossible to love others. If we wait until we love ourselves, we could be limiting the opportunities to love and live well! I honestly believe God says love is an 'outgoing' thing - what we 'feel' as a result of that 'outgoing action' of loving others is great, but that feeling follows actions, doesn't it? Love is 'outward' because it is 'action-based' - the feelings of love are inward because they are interpreted through our 'emotions'. We might have thought if the emotions aren't there, then there is no love either. The truth God wants us to realize is that love is continually 'outgoing' even when the feelings aren't quite caught up with the actions yet.
Even if you fall short, never stop making love 'outgoing' in your life. You won't love well all of the time - you will fall short on occasion. You won't always 'feel' like you are lovely - but that doesn't mean you aren't able to show compassion, give mercy, embrace someone else, or fill up someone's emotional tank. If we wait till we 'feel' like we are loving and living well to start loving others, we may not ever start! Surrender to the love of God in your life and allow his grace to begin to embrace your bruised and damaged emotions. In short order, you may just be surprised at how much his love begins to be expressed in 'outgoing love' through you. Just sayin!
Sum it all up and what really matters at the end of a person's life? I'd have to say it is that we have loved and lived well. Love others well and your life will be lived well. It would be terrible to go through life without having known love, but how many of us go through life being 'stingy' with our love? We have been hurt by others, so we pull in a bit and don't put ourselves out there like we should. We have hurt ourselves, so we we see ourselves as 'not worth the investment', holding ourselves back from others because of this untruthful view of ourselves. Love well, my friends and you might just be surprised how well your life begins to be 'lived'. I will not make light of your having been hurt by others, but the time for healing has come. It is time to move past hurts that are really part of our 'past' and begin to put ourselves out there so we can begin to really live in the 'present'.
God isn't after anything other than our 'outgoing love'. If you have ever taken notice, you will soon realize scripture doesn't have to tell us to love ourselves. Some have believed the lie that until we can love ourselves it is impossible to love others. If we wait until we love ourselves, we could be limiting the opportunities to love and live well! I honestly believe God says love is an 'outgoing' thing - what we 'feel' as a result of that 'outgoing action' of loving others is great, but that feeling follows actions, doesn't it? Love is 'outward' because it is 'action-based' - the feelings of love are inward because they are interpreted through our 'emotions'. We might have thought if the emotions aren't there, then there is no love either. The truth God wants us to realize is that love is continually 'outgoing' even when the feelings aren't quite caught up with the actions yet.
Even if you fall short, never stop making love 'outgoing' in your life. You won't love well all of the time - you will fall short on occasion. You won't always 'feel' like you are lovely - but that doesn't mean you aren't able to show compassion, give mercy, embrace someone else, or fill up someone's emotional tank. If we wait till we 'feel' like we are loving and living well to start loving others, we may not ever start! Surrender to the love of God in your life and allow his grace to begin to embrace your bruised and damaged emotions. In short order, you may just be surprised at how much his love begins to be expressed in 'outgoing love' through you. Just sayin!
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