LOVE WINS- Part 1
Love Wins- Part 1
So its been a while but I needed a go ahead to release this one. You all know we have entered into the month of love and you know how I love Love so yes it's time. I am really gonna take my time on this so it will come in bits as the Lord leads. You must have heard my songs, Love Wins or So Listen. If not you can check them out later but those will be the context with which I will try to write this blog. You will notice I used the word 'try' because with Love that is all we can do. Allow me..
Introduction
So where do I begin? I was called to love but I didnt know how. So I started asking God to teach me how to love more and so He gave me opportunities to forgive more, as a poster child of Love, lol. For that's exactly how I see it because all of my relationships were falling apart. From family to friends to inlaws to church to business to colleagues, to marriage, I mean every and any connection I had, found a way to hurt me. And for many years, I thought it was all me. If only I would try to please people more, never say 'no', always be respectful, always take ownership of the relationship and always apologize first, I mean, I would do any and everything to keep my relationships but they would still fail, until I started expecting it. Dont love too hard cause they will hurt you. It was not until I begged God and fasted that I got this revelation that I'm about to share with you.
Read my book JayceePEE Testifies for more context or background story.
Even with all what I knew when writing the Love Wins lyrics and So Listen Intro, I never fully understood what love is. As a matter of fact , we all never will. Allow me to take you deeper.
I will use as a base, my intro to this topic as the very same intro I used for "So Listen" in a simpler version.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7- Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
What is Love?
The true answer to this question is "undefined". Yes Undefined. It's rather "WHO" than "what".
1 John 4:16-19 NIV 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love.
This is key. When God opened my eyes to see that He himself is Love, my whole perspective of how I see Love changed. You mean this entire time, God himself was what I was desiring so bad all my life?? Desiring my dad to love me, my friends to love me, the church to accept me, my husband to choose me... I can go on and on. But hey this whole time, all I needed was God himself. He is love. To know Him is to Love Him, to love Him is to know Him and to love Him is to fall in Love with Love. 1 John 4:8- Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is why love will never be fully understood because no one can fully understand who God is.
Romans 11:33 Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways! No wonder you can never fully understand how to love your wife without hurting her. No wonder why forgiveness is a requirement for our prayers to be answered. No wonder why grace is important for us to extend daily. We will always make a mistake and hurt each other. We will never fully understand and perfect love without Love (God) Himself. His presence perfects love. 1 John 4:17-19 King James Version 17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
The more we resist the urge to fear and let Him in, the more we can forgive and let go. The more we can see how our lack of understanding of who He (Love) is and how that will cause us to hurt each other. The more we can extend grace and acceptance of each other no matter the color of our skin, our background, orientation, beliefs or shortcomings. No wonder His mercies are new every morning. No wonder He told us to forgive 70 times 7 times. Love will never be fully completed. It's a cycle. We need to love and re-love daily.
I don't have to accept, condone or partake in your sin, but I acknowledge you for who you are and where you are right now and love you no matter what. This is called unconditional. No strings attached. The only perfect example is here: Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Characteristics of Love (God)
As I mentioned this topic cannot be fully exhausted as we learn about Loving God and how to love our loved ones every day. There is no cheat code, no solid bullet points. Thankfully we have a Blueprint. God Himself.
- God is infinite, so love is too. 1 Cor. 13:8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. So love cannot end. Note I never said physical attraction or chemistry. I never said I might not get mad at you for hurting me, but true love is like loving your own blood, when it is pure and unconditional. No matter what, the love grows and deepens through the years. That is a marker of true love. If it fades, dwindle, lacks and cease then it was a counterfeit. Some counterfeits can be lust, love of money, pride, finnese, gaslight, clout, who knows. There are so many types of fake love out there its hard to keep count or name them nowadays.
- God is the greatest. So is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13- So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. As high as God is so he has made Love a priority for us. Its a command, the "greatest command" as Jesus puts it. Again its not optional. He doesnt even forgive you unless you make it right with your neighbor, its that serious. Mark 11:25 "And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well."
- God is patient and kind and so is love. Note the Bible did not use the noun Patience but the verb Patient. It is a doing word. Kindness is often perceived as weakness, feminine or cowardly. But this is a mark of a loving father, pastor, friend or sister. Kindness requires sacrifice, unselfish grace and a helping hand. A patient and kind boss will give several chances and a patient and kind spouse will make excuses for their mate. I am not stupid for being patient or kind. I am being wise for choosing to be patient and kind. 1 Corinthians 1:27 King James Version 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
- Ok let's do one more that I have learnt. God is a covering and so is love. 1 Peter 4:8- Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Again love does not rejoice in wrong doing but if you fall short, I still got your back. I wont be caught disgracing you publicly, bashing you or destroying your character. I extend grace, walk a mile in your shoe and show compassion. Mourn when you mourn, rejoice with you when you rejoice, correct you privately when you're wrong and fight for you publicly. I am a shelter for you, a safe place and a strong backbone of support even if I think you might fail. See God knows we will fall from time to time but He still sticks His neck out for us, sent us His son to die for us, shows us extended grace for us to repent and still answer us and gives us gifts even when we hurt Him. There's no barrier when it comes to us. He breaks the bars and reach out to snatch us from our prisons and the walls we cave ourselves in. Love always Wins.
So yeah yeah I know what you're thinking right now. "I am not God. How can I love unconditionally? How can I live without hurting someone. Josette, I hear what you're saying but how can I forgive my uncle for molesting me or my church for talking about me?"
I'm getting there. Hold on....
Next time, as God leads, we will look into what it takes to love. We will look in depth into things like Sacrifice, Studying a person you love, What is the Glue of Love and so much more...
Keep on loving, learning and growing. I'll see you then.
Remember these facts:
John 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Love
JayceePEE
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