There are many different kinds of love. There is the love that overflows from our own character which comes as the result of experiencing God’s love. But that kind of love is not the love that occurs when two people are both capable and willing to express love to one another.
Giving love expecting the other person to be able and willing to reciprocate is like casting your pearls before swine. They may trample on your love and even turn on you. Giving love in the hope of reciprocation is not really love at all. It is payment for which we hope to receive something back of equal value. The word used for “loved” in the original language when it says God so loved the world, is not a love that expects anything back, it is not the same love we experience with Him when we reciprocate. Otherwise, we will experience incredible amounts of rejection and damage our own heart!
Others can contribute to our sense of being loved but they should never be the source. The love that satisfies our deepest longing should be met in a loving relationship with God! That way we are never expressing love to others out of our need to be loved! When we can love expecting nothing back there is a deep satisfaction. It is genuine, and has no strings or complications; it’s simply who we are in Christ!
JOIN ME this week as we explore God’s love as our root of emotional stability by making Him our Source. Then we can love others freely with no expectations or negative feelings when they can’t reciprocate!
