Love in all things

This is a sequel (in a way) to "The Man You Love" post...

As Christians, from the time we are in almost our first years of Sunday school, we are taught about love. The famous story comes to mind about the Disciples asking Christ "what is the most important commandment of all?":
Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”
 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

So loving God is foremost in all things! Can I say though, if you love someone, you will do everything you can to please them?
If this is the case, then this calls for a serious heart response! If God is our "first love" then our lives should reflect our devotion to Him, we should continue to try and make our relationship grow in Him for the rest of our lives! You cannot say you love someone if you take the gift they give you and ignor them from then onwards! Growing in God takes a full lifetime! Our love for Him should grow every day, just like an earthly relationship. Another thing also, as a female it must be somewhat easier for us in someways to realise that God is in control of all things than guys. I think our problem can be relinquishing control when we assume we can do things so much better than Him. So the point I am making is, how can you love God if you can't TRUST Him and the fact that He is truly in control, whether you give it to Him or not. I personally struggle with the control factor, that is for sure!

Now to move on to the SECOND most important commandment:
How can we love our neighbors as ourselves? Well for one thing, we look after ourselves every morning! We groom ourselves everyday, and we become presentable, and refreshed, getting rid of all the dirt and things that marr our ability to leave the bathroom. So I suppose you could say, every day your relationships are to be renewed and worked on! I think we would all agree that beauty takes time effort and grooming, wouldn't you? So for our relationships to stay beautiful, we need to groom it!

If we hurt ourselves we will generally disinfect the area to prevent an infection. Why? Infections can kill! Hurts, anger, and any negative emotions in a relationship need to also be disinfected, as they can kill our relationship with others!
Disinfectant only works for a short time after the injury is incurred, as it then can go straight to our blood stream and cause harm. Just like if hurts and all other negative emotions in a relationship need to be cleared up straight away, or else the infection will set in!

Patience, Peace, Kindness, Gentleness, and Self-Control all can basically come under the banner of love. If you have love, you also have these fruits in a package, and all are essential in a relationship. Relationships are not necessarily just our boyfriend/girlfriends, it includes EVERYONE we know, all our friends and family. God wishes that even the people we dislike, that we will love.

One of the problems faced in relationships is lack of communication, and it has to be fixed straight away or else it can ruin our relationships. In the "Bad Communication" label also comes the "too much communication" with people around us about our relationship. If we feel we can't communicate with the person in question, we may talk to others unecessarily about our problems with said person. This effectively shows a lack of love. Patience and self control come into the picture now in this situation as no negative comment about any body else should EVER cross our lips to someone else altogether.

We need to learn to wait on God when these times seem unbearable, and rest in His peace.

God wants us to be like the moon... He knows that we are just a big rock stuck in our own part of the universe, cratered and blemished, holding no beauty of our own. The thing is though, God is like the Sun!! His light shines on us, we are supposed to reflect it, and then we are no longer seen as our sinful selves, but instead, we will shine the light of God, in all things, and we can light up the dark with the light and love of Christ!