I had this grungy little mutt of a puppy. Her favorite past
time was to dig pits in our backyard, which is partly why I no longer have said
cute puppy. There were holes all over the high-heel-aerated ground. I knew
where the pits were; I knew to watch where I stepped. And still this girl would
fall in the same holes, day after day, until my ankles wobbled even on the most
level ground.
I’ve fallen in again. There was no time for it, but I laid
down Saturday, when we were supposed to walk to the “Banana-Belt” neighborhood
get together. I had to close my eyes. Tears silently kissed my pillow. Worn
out. Trying. Giving. Pouring-- feeling nothing in return. I was expecting a return on love, on service. And I knew better. I am
gently reminded, “love doesn’t give with expectation.”
I argue now, doesn’t it? Doesn’t love always expect
something? Jacob, he served for Rachel seven years, but he had the expectation
of marrying her. And the question I’m really asking is, “Does Jesus expect anything of me?”
Does He expect to get something in return for
His love?
So I ask Him, “Why?-- Why do
you love me?” A guy simply quoted as Tony
writes, “He loves us in spite of us being
unlovable. The beauty of God’s love is that He loves the unlovable. He loves us because of his character, not
because of ours.”
His character can love unconditionally. Everything Jesus did
on earth: healing, feeding, teaching, washing feet, until finally giving up His
life—He did it all without regard for “fairness.” He
loves me, not based on me at all. (While I was still a sinner He died
for me. Romans 5:8) He gives all; He expects
nothing in return. He doesn’t need to be filled up by me; I can only be filled up by Him.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass
or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all
knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And
though I bestow all my goods to feed the
poor, and though I give my body to be burned but have not love, it profits me nothing.4 Love suffers
long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not
parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does
not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not
rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things.
8 Love never fails” 1 Corinthians 13.
There’s no clause for, “love asks for something in return.”
There’s no line about love “expecting,” about love “giving up, wearing out,
staying in bed.” None. Is my love expectation
really asking at its heart, “Will you fill me up too?” Because if
it is, then I’ve come to the wrong well.
Drunken from it too, and come up dry.
Lord, help me to quit stepping in this same hole. Help me to
love from Your heart, and not my own. Help me to come to You before I fall down. Help my heart, romance, to give, to serve for Your
glory, not my gain. Lord, no matter what I do, and for whom, help me not
to do it out of selfish ambition. Let me
not sound as a clanging cymbal, but say, “I have love.” Your love asks nothing of me, but since I’ve
tasted of it, there’s no turning back. I am the neediest of all, demanding of
Your attention constantly. Help me to live out a romance in You: a love that
serves and asks for nothing in return. Real
romance doesn’t give expectantly. Let me serve as Jacob did, let it seem
“but a few days because of the love” I
have for You.
There is an expectant love though, a love that hopes
expectantly for an eternity with Him. A love that prays expectantly, a love that lives only expectantly in You.
My love sonnet from You today: that You speak to the, "why?" in my heart. That You simply chose to love me, that You are love itself.
Write it on the mirror to appear after his shower, warm his towel in the dryer for a treat: your love wrapping him up.
My love sonnet from You today: that You speak to the, "why?" in my heart. That You simply chose to love me, that You are love itself.
Romancing your spouse as part of the: 21 Days of Romance Challenge?
Here are a few ideas to give unexpectedly:
Here are a few ideas to give unexpectedly:
Tuck an "I love you" into the pocket of the jeans he's about to wear, or into his wallet: your love even where he's not looking for it.
Write it on the mirror to appear after his shower, warm his towel in the dryer for a treat: your love wrapping him up.
Tape "love" to the bottom of his clear glass cup (on the outside :), serve it filled with his favorite cold drink: your love filling him up in the end, in more ways than one.
Care to see where we've been on this 21 Days of Romance? (Seeking out romance in His word) You might like to see:
I needed this today. Thank you for being strong enough, and wise enough, to say it.
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