Month: September 2017

Love Well, Love Deeply…

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This is a lesson I have to study every single day and one I recently messed up big time:

Last week I spat off some hurtful and negative things at a dear friend.  You see, about a month ago something happened that stung my heart.  But instead of stopping in that moment and telling her it hurt me; I retreated, let it fester and became bitter and angry.   That is, until last week when I erupted.  And what’s worse is even after I did it and knew how wrong it was and spent a day crying about it, I still didn’t go to her to apologize.  My pride got in the way.  In that moment and over the last month, I did not love her well.

And then the Lord convicted me.

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart”  1 Peter 1:22

Peter urges Christians—because they are purified through Christ—to love fellow Christians purely and fervently.  It is our duty to love one another deeply.  We must love one another sincerely, genuinely and with everything in us.  Whether our feelings are hurt, our opinions don’t align or our views are different, we must love well and we must love deeply.   We are commanded to.

We love well and love deeply when we:

  • Speak love and encouragement instead of evil and criticism.

“Don’t let any evil talk come out of your mouths. Say only what will help to build others up and meet their needs. Then what you say will help those who listen.”  Ephesians 4:29

  • Are kind, tenderhearted and understanding.

“Be kind and tender to one another. Forgive each other, just as God forgave you because of what Christ has done.” Ephesians 4:32

  • Bring peace and not dissension.

“Therefore, let’s keep on pursuing those things that bring peace and that lead to building up one another.”  Romans 14:19

  • Speak truth in love.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”  Ephesians 4:15

We love well and love deeply through our actions and our words.  We love well and love deeply through being more like Christ.  We love well and love deeply when we lay our burdens, our pride, and our selfish motives at the Cross and allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us.

I messed this up and I will probably mess up again soon.  Probably tomorrow.  And that is why I’m thankful for grace.

But, in case you were wondering, I did indeed apologize and ask forgiveness from my precious friend…..and she chose to love me well and love me deeply in return.

*Father, help me to love well.  Help me to not let shameful, hurtful thoughts enter my mind or exit my mouth.  You love me in spite of my flaws, I should reflect the same in my love for others.*

Yes Lord, I Trust You

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img_6649-1Last month our boys went to youth camp for the first time.  This is the first time they have gone somewhere States away, without us, for a long period of time.  I about died.  It was pitiful.  As the van drove away, I almost lost it right there in the parking lot.  I held it together…….until I got home. I then cried all day, worried sick, wondering if they were ok and so on.  It was so silly of me.   Jeremy pretty much said, “Dawn, you need to get it together” and I definitely needed to.

So, I began to pray and talk to the Lord asking Him to give me peace in my heart and take away my worry.  Then it hit me – Do I trust Him?  Do I trust the Lord with my children?  Because right then, my actions were not reflecting that.  In that moment, I asked the Lord for forgiveness for my ridiculousness and lack of trust and I began to truly dwell on trusting in Him. One of the very first verses I ever memorized was Proverbs 3:5:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.”

Do we trust Him with all of our heart? Do we look past our own understanding and rely on His?  What this scripture is saying is we must have “absolute obedience and surrender in every realm of life” (Fritsch, IBC, 4:799).  Oh how difficult that is when things aren’t quite in our control.  I know my example of worrying as my children went off to camp is such a silly example but it spurred an even greater thought process and challenge in my own heart.  Can I rest and rely on Him with absolute obedience and surrender?  It should be an immediate resounding “YES” as I am commanded to do so and I have seen His faithfulness over and over.  But, do my actions support that answer?

As I sit here at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning having been up for hours already once again wrestling with this question, I come to these conclusions:  I must trust Him.  I have to trust Him.  When things seem awry in my own heart at this moment, when I see the devastation so many are dealing with in Texas, when I see the unsettledness of our country and world, I must trust Him. Today I say Yes Lord, I believe you.  Yes Lord, You are in control.  Yes Lord, You are faithful.  Yes Lord, You love us with a “love that surpasses knowledge”(Ephesians 3:18) and therefore, I trust You.

Friend, I don’t know where you are today, what you wrestle or struggle with; maybe it is sickness, maybe it is marriage struggles, financial struggles, job struggles – whatever it is choose today to trust Him with absolute obedience and surrender over your entire life.  The peace that meets total surrender and complete trust in Him is astounding. 

~Father help me today to trust You completely, even though I am so unsure, You are not.  You are so faithful and Your ways are perfect.   What I see in front of me pales in comparison to what You have ahead of me.~