Romans 12:9




 Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Romans 12:9a

When I saw this would be the verse I would focus on for April, my first thought was that it should have been put in February to go along with Valentine's Day.  All that lovey-dovey stuff and such.

Then a few days ago the thought came to me.

This year, this is the month that embodies love. Romans 12:9 speaks of loving from the very core of who you are.  True authenticity.

This isn't fake love.  Pretending to love someone. Pretending to care in hopes and gaining something in return.

But, we may argue, some people are hard to love.

I could not agree more.  I have seen some of them.  And some have even asked me why I care.

And I have to tell them honestly. The only good thing coming out of me is Jesus.

I love you because of Jesus.

To authentically love someone, regardless of their actions towards us, takes Jesus.

And we are now into the week that showed the true, authentic love.  There is no greater love than a man who gives his life for another.

I know such a man.  My Jesus did that for me.  And for you.

He loved us DESPITE ourselves. 

Christ has regarded our helpless estate,  
and has shed His own blood for our souls
(It is Well with my Soul)

Easter is the culmination of true love.  And it doesn't get ANY better than that.

Are you having trouble loving someone?  Turn to Jesus.  Give it to Jesus.  All of it.  You will be amazed with the results.



To see past posts, click here

Comments

Post a Comment

Tell me how you live intentional. I'd love to know!

Popular posts from this blog

The jig is up

Image
OK, I've kept it a secret for 6 months, but now that it's over, I'm bragging on my man. : ) Since April, Paul has been training to run the Columbus Marathon. We were able to get a few days off of work, grandparents watched the kids, and on Saturday morning Paul and I headed down to Columbus. We headed downtown to pick up his race packet and then spent the rest of the day and night with Ben, Jaime, and Alayna . Dark and early (5 AM) Sunday morning we rolled out of bed, Paul got geared up, and we headed downtown again to find a decent parking spot. Thankfully we found a good place to park and had Paul to the starting area at 6:30 AM (an hour before start). Ben graciously came along so I didn't have to wander around Columbus on my own -thanks, Ben! It was mid-30's at the start with a slight breeze, but skies were clear and the sun came out once it rose. Ben and I saw Paul off at the start and then headed to the halfway point (got some coffee along the way) and
Read more

Madeline Nichole Suvar

Image
The newest addition to our family came into this world on February 1st. She weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and was 19 inches long. She surprised us all with having black hair - Owen and Hannah were born with next to nothing for hair and even then it was real light. She impressed the doctors at the hospital by gaining back her birth weight and passing it by an ounce (a rarity, I guess). Our first day at home (today) went well. She was awake for most of the morning and through lunch and then took a nap in the afternoon. She nurses well and doesn't get upset by all the noise Owen and Hannah make. Hannah loves to come over and pat her on the head and Owen will talk to her and hold her hand. I am working on wrapping my mind around the fact that I am a mother of 3 - it makes me feel old! :) I'm healing well from my C-Section, the hardest part is forcing myself to stay put and letting Paul do things for me. He's a great nurse, cook, father, husband.... : )
Read more

Of loss and hope

Image
Thank you to those who have reached out to me, prayed for me, since my post on Sunday. I am humbled yet again by the love of Christ, and His followers. I spoke of hope. And truly I am learning more about hope as life goes on.  I understand it more than I did 10 years ago. And even now, this week, I feel I am seeing new dimensions of it that I did not know existed. I am a realist. With a small dose of optimism.  And I think that it is that sprinkling of optimism that is keeping me from swinging way over to the pessimistic side of things. Because I truly want things to work out, HOPE that things will work out.  But I keep my hand on the shift knob, because I just may have to throw things into a lower gear because well, I'm just hoping for things to work out, but kinda doubt they will. I hope that made sense to someone.  You may need to go back and read it.  I'll wait. .......... I think I live most of my life, and approach most circumstances, like that.
Read more