So, it’s Valentine’s Day…again. I have long since moved past struggling with this holiday as a single person. I don’t need a boyfriend or husband to be happy and feel loved during this day. I’ll happily dive into some chocolates and curl up for a great movie tonight once my daughter is tucked in bed. I don’t mind.
Honestly, that’s not always been the case. There have been years where I’ve really struggled with being single today. I can honestly say that despite my desire for marriage and a husband to go through this life with, I’m good with being single while I am. It’s giving me more time to discover my passions in life and live for God and I’m able to devote more of me to my daughter. Life is good! I am loved! I don’t need a holiday to tell me whether someone else loves me or not. I know I’m loved!
Long before we first loved anything, knew how to love, or even knew what the word ‘love’ meant, we were loved. Before we loved ourselves, that first toy, our parents, we were loved so much, a life was sacrificed for us. That love has taught us so much and it is often forgotten or excluded for convenience. He First Loved Us!
Now, I’ll say again, I’m single. I’ve never been married, but I have been in long-term relationships and I’ve seen many marriages (and the good and bad that go along with them). Sometimes people forget how to love. Or maybe they’ve been with that person so long that they don’t always remember to show their love anymore. I see too many marriages where there isn’t that love there anymore.
Now I know, passion and intensity fades over time. But that’s when you truly develop a long-lasting love. Love isn’t passion. It’s so much more than that. It’s a desire to do for that person, care for that person, give to that person, spend time with that person.
God gives us instructions for how we should live our lives. He gives us these so that we can have the best life possible. So, how do you love God’s way? Simple.
Here are 10 ways from the Bible.
♦ Listen without interrupting.
♦ Speak without accusing.
♦ Give without sparing.
♦ Pray without ceasing.
♦ Answer without arguing.
♦ Share without pretending.
♦ Enjoy without compliant.
♦ Trust without wavering.
♦ Forgive without punishing.
♦ Promise without forgetting.
*Note: I found this list somewhere online a while back, but cannot find the source.
If you know where it is located, please let me know.
Hope Nurtured 