To Love Or Not To Love Whether We Agree Or Not

I am learning that loving someone doesn't mean you must agree with them in every area of life. Because love is not based on like mindedness, commonality, or agreement. It is based on a divine gift given human beings by our Creator. It is the ability to love someone or something because we choose to; not because they deserve it, have earned it, or require it. It is simply a choice.

Throughout my lifetime, I have been blessed to love and be loved by more than my share of family and friends and I find that I rarely agree with many of them on different issues of this life. For the longest time I believed that if I disagreed with someone I loved, it meant our love was not real or as strong it should be. That mindset left me with much unnecessary turmoil and conflict in certain relationships.

Recently, I received a letter from a loved one that I totally disagreed with. For quite a few days I really struggled with what that meant about my relationship with that individual. I finally came to a place of decision and realized something very interesting. The fact that we disagree wasn't effecting our care for one another but rather that I was making that disagreement mean something about the validity of the love we share. I truly thought that I had to do something to restore my devotion to this person or admit my lack of love for them.

As the days wore on, I continued to torture myself over this painful realization. Finally, it occurred to me that if one of us were to die that night, the sum of our relationship would not be based on if we agreed on certain subjects but instead on the fact that even in our disagreements we truly love one another because we chose to. We loved each other just as God chooses to continue to love us whether we deserve it or not. God's depth of love is evident in this; " God demonstrates His own love for us in this: That while we were still sinners Christ died for us." Rom.5:8

I continue to love because God continues to love me and if He can love me as I am, then who am I, to choose not to love another person regardless of their views and opinions. This may sound a bit simplistic to some but for someone who has been abused, another survivor's insights can deeply impact further healing in the journey of complete restoration. That is my greatest hope as I write these words even now. May your week be blessed with reminders of the loves you have known in your life and what a privilege it is to choose to love as God loves us.

Jesus, Please Just Hold Me A While

When I get a little scattered and can't seem to collect myself, I can only ask My Best Friend To Sit with me and hold me while I gather the fragments and put them into place. Some days I don't get a hold of every loose piece, but His holding me seems to knit them all back together in a workable way. Today is just one of those precious days when I find myself resting in His arms while He makes me whole again.