Will you love them anyway?

We care about making ends meet, providing for our families, doing well at our career, being good at this or that, and staying healthy.  God cares about our relationships, how we are loving each other, and getting us to heaven to be with Him forever.

I have noticed how people react differently to hurt.  Especially in marriage, you make yourself very vulnerable to that person.  It has to be that way in order to truly love someone.  Love is total.  You give all of yourself to someone.  And that makes us vulnerable.

I have noticed how difficult it is for some people  to forgive past hurts.  And when they think they do, they really don't, because they bring it up again and again.  They remember it, ponder it, and feel the pain over and over again when they think about it. I can't say that I have never done that.  I have.  It is so hard to let go of past hurts.  I think it can be our way of protecting ourselves from having it ever happen again.

If you're looking around, comparing yourself to others, thinking their lives are so perfect.  Stop.  Because they're not.  It may appear that way, because many of us keep our imperfections to ourselves.

Sometimes I wonder, why do people keep things in secret?  Why do people try so hard not to let others see inside?  Why do they lead others to believe that things are perfect, when they're not.  I think for some it is because they are afraid.  They are ashamed or embarrassed, or have a fear of being rejected.

When we are afraid to call our struggles or sin by name, then they become that much stronger.  Sometimes we even convince ourselves that everything is okay.  satan tricks us that way.  He knows that if we cannot admit to our sin or our problem, we are trapped.

If you have read any books about spiritual warfare, you know that one of the crucial things that happens when someone is being delivered from an unclean spirit is to call it by it's name: greed, lust, mockery, anger, etc... And when this happens, it begins to lose power.

So many people are afraid to let others see what makes them less than perfect.  Do not be afraid.  It's the first step toward healing.

I was helping at a retreat a few years ago, when the group leaders were asked to start the retreat by taking a poster-sized piece of paper and then to write down a sin that we have struggled with.  We were to then take this paper and walk in front of about 80 retreat participants.  Talk about transparent.  I could've written a lot of things on that paper.  But I chose to play it safe.  I wrote "pride", which is an ugly sin, but definitely not my worst.  When I watched what some of those people wrote on their paper and then proceeded to walk in front of all of those people, I was moved by their courage. No one wanted to do it, but they did.  They wanted others to know... we are just like you . We are sinners.  But we come to Jesus, knowing that we are less than perfect, and we will still be loved.  Think of your relationship with your spouse or your family member.

Is it less than perfect?

Will you love them anyway?

Jesus does.