"She said she usually cried at least once each day, not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful and life was so short." ~Unknown
I often think of the lives that have appeared in my own. Some of those people have blessed and honored me by remaining, while others, for various reasons have not been able to. You wish that you could keep all those you meet that you connect with, but the truth of the matter is, you won't be able to. Some will stay, and some will move on. You may stay, and sometimes you may move on. Life is full of all kinds of change.
I often shed tears over those I have lost—either some in death, or others on to other avenues of their lives. It's never easy to lose a beautiful relationship of any kind once it's been established.
Sometimes it hurts to love someone. Sometimes we hurt those we love. We humans are such complex creatures that way—capable of so many different things. So why then do we risk loving one another at all if we are often so disappointing? Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. And this is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps God's commands lives in Him, and He in them. And this is how we know that He lives in us: We know it by the Spirit He gave us. 1 John 3:16-24
"Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see Life with a clearer view again." ~Alex Tan
This life of ours is full of risks to take. Sometimes we will win, and sometimes we will lose. Sometimes it's worth it, sometimes it's not. However we'll usually never know till we try at all; and we'll probably not get very far without risking at least a little. But such is life.
Loving people is a huge risk. As humans we long to be loved in return and our hearts are often broken and scarred when it isn't. But again sometimes we'll get it, and sometimes we won't. Either way we may never know for sure unless we take that first step, which is often scary and intimidating…
Love can be a beautiful and harsh thing—at times it can be healing, while other times it can be downright dangerous. I can't guarantee human love is always good as I wish I could. But I will say so of God's. In terms of my own life He's been the only hope and comforting need for me to hold onto at all times. He's there even when I don't call for Him. He's there for me for both the good times and the bad. I fall down, and He's the one beside me to help me back on my feet. That's a rare thing to say of anyone. So it makes me genuinely happy knowing there is at least and always will be one kind of love out there that is always true…God's love for simple, broken, and tainted little me… I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them. Psalm 34:4-7
Though our feelings come and go, God's love for us does not." ~C.S. Lewis
I think it is safe to say we will all love at least some point in our lives. I believe it is as natural to us as breathing. But the question is how will you love? Or rather, what will love mean to you?
God is my Hope. It's a feeling I just know. It's a relationship I've discovered, and I firmly believe it's the real deal. As for the love between you and God, well that is something you'll have to examine for yourself.
I pray you each find genuine love in your relationships with your friends, families and significant others. However, I caution you. We all want to feel loved, valued, and appreciated by others; yet sometimes in our rush to feel so we take the risk in order to search it out, and at the first small sign of it, jump on board. But sometimes what we think we need might not necessarily be beneficial. Sometimes what we want might not necessarily be what we truly need. This can be a tricky area, for the feelings of being loved can often 'hinder' our perceptions of our reality. When we are confronted by such moments, my advice is to attempt to ask ourselves if such love opportunities are the true kinds of love we need (is it genuine love?). Another good idea is to evaluate what genuine love really is. So therefore assess the risk factor beforehand (it also helps to procure others' opinions); try to determine whether the risk is worth taking (for not every risk or opportunity will be)--but you most certainly could explore it.
If you choose to give out love, and receive it yourself for awhile, realize there is the unfortunate possibility that you might be disappointed at some point. If that does happen to you, (or it already has), I pray you are not embittered because of it. It is an easy thing to do, to build up walls around your heart—but as C.S. Lewis put it, it is not healthy, and it most certainly isn't something God longs for you. "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable."~C.S. Lewis
Whether you find genuine love or not, I hope and pray you do find it with our Father. God loves you unconditionally, and truly values you His creation; He alone knows your full worth and potential. And above all, He knows your heart; He can help fill it and mend it whole again. How many can say that and really mean it?
Let go of the hurt and the scars. Let Him come into you and let His love set you free and wash you clean. Let Him show you what real Love is.* The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them…The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:17-18
…let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10: 22-25
"If you find the mirror of the heart dull, the rust has not been cleared from its face." ~Rumi
"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." ~James Arthur Baldwin
"For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it." ~Ivan Panin
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:11-12
Enveloped in His Love,
Whitney
