Learning to Love
A wise friend told me that we don’t learn to love others God’s way- that is unconditionally- when everyone loves us and thinks we’re great. We learn this kind of love through being rejected, abandoned, hated, scorned with jealousy, etc. This is when we learn to love unconditionally. In 1 Cor. 13 Paul wrote, “If I give everything I own to the poor and even to go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t have love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self.”
In the last six months I have prayed that God would give me a deeper revelation of His love. Well, now I get to practice. But with this new perspective from my wise friend, there is a greater purpose to heartache. Maybe this is what Paul meant when he said, “Count it all joy!” There is a place in Jesus where hurts lose their grip on us. It’s at the foot of the cross.
“All things work together for good…” Phil 4:13
Loving Him and loving you,
Sondra Martin Hicks
