Let Love In

"Anyone who knows he is loved is in turn prompted to love. It is the Lord himself, who loved us first, who asks us to place at the center of our lives love for him and for the people he has loved."

-Pope Benedict XVI

Love. That word that is tossed around like it is nothing. It has become so twisted in meaning and the world defines it in countless ways, but love can only be defined in one way.  God. God is Love. Jesus Christ is Love. The crucifixion was the means by which God proves His love. It is the solitary proof of the love that the Lord has for us. Now, you may be sitting there reading this thinking, "Okay. I know. God loves me. I get it. You are preaching to the choir here." Stop. Slow down. Hit the pause button. Sit and for just a few seconds let that truth set into your heart. Jesus loves you. Did you read that? Do you know what that means? Jesus loves you as if you were the only person on this earth to love. He loves you enough to DIE for you. In fact, He already did. He suffered a brutal death for you, a person that He had yet to create. 

This truth is one that I have heard millions of times in my life. The word "love" is one that has been tossed around like the waters of the sea. For some reason, God has given me an immense amount of time recently to sit and really think about how my definition of love has changed throughout my short lifetime. It's actually more like how He has changed my definition of love. As with most children, my first concept of love came from my parents. Parents love each other and they love their children. Simple, right? That's where my first concept of love was rooted. My parents were married for 19 years before they separated. That separation caused me to question the meaning of true love. Does love end? Does love have an expiration date? My world was starting to shake and my heart began to break. Yet, God was getting ready to completely rock my world.

Time went on. Now, think back to your high school relationships. My high school relationships were, overall, a huge learning experience. I owe much to my past boyfriends. They brought me out of my comfort zone, taught me that it's okay to be myself,  but they also redefined what love meant to me. It got warped into a skewed definition based on manipulation, pressure, and fear. My high school religion teacher taught us that love meant to will the good of the other. I wish I could say that I saw that in my high school relationships, but for the most part, I didn't. 

Senior year hit which meant chaos hit and my definition of love was wrecked. I was violated, hurt, and torn to pieces. I was at my personal rock bottom. I became convinced that, although love may exist, it wasn't for me to experience. I had yet to find a true, genuine example of love.

Enter in: God. Here we go. We're finally getting to a REAL definition of love...one that is not from this world or based on the ideas of this world. 

So, I go on lots of retreats. It was the summer after my senior year when I first caught a glimpse of true love; love that never ends and never fails. Love that will never give up. I recognized that love is constantly pursuing me in the form of Jesus Christ. Through the past 3 years, I have seen Christ's love come alive in my life and the lives of those around me. Fast forward to the past two weeks. In that short time span, God has showed me His love in the most intense way I have ever experienced. He has used individuals to show me His love. Through the eyes and hearts of others, Christ has allowed me to feel His love in a very real and very human way. 

I have struggled recently to see my worth through the eyes of Christ. Why did God have to die? Why did He have to go through so much suffering for my unworthy soul? Quick answer: love. He loves us so much that He had to die to show us how far true love will go. When you let that love come into your heart, it is overwhelming. Our humanity is not made to handle the full extent of Christ's love. He does, however, give us a taste of this heavenly, unconditional, never ending, free flowing love. Nothing we do can stop Him from pursuing our hearts. Christ has always, is still and will forever pursue us. This now becomes a matter of me (and the rest of us) accepting that we are worthy of this love. Realistically, we aren't really worthy. Our sins continually nail Him back to the cross. We run so far from grace. We willingly reject Christ for the things of the world. So, why? Why does He continue to love us? Because He is God and God is Love and you cannot cease to be who you are. Christ is perfect. His love is perfect and newsflash! You are perfect. You are made in the image of God. Christ lives within you.  How can you refuse the love that lives within you? Can you really run away from the you that God created? Can you ever run too far from Christ when He is running with you, living inside of you?

The Lord is working in extraordinary ways right now. I know that His Love is constantly being poured out on you. Allow yourself to feel it. Crack open your heart and He will let your cup overflow. Take a moment to sit and just let God love on you. It can be so hard for us to accept love as humans, especially from God. However, you were made to give AND receive love. In order to give of yourself, you must have something to give. Let Christ fill you with His love. He will never let you run dry. Love yourself, love Christ, love others. Love without abandon. Don't hold anything back because in the end, what else matters besides love? 

In Christ,
Steph

1 Corinthians 13:1-3