Wednesday, August 8, 2007

You can give without loving, but cannot love without giving...


I came across this saying some time ago, and it was one of those that I had to write down for later use. I think that this speaks volumes on the love that Christians have for one another.

Anyone can give. We can give to people in need, we can give because people are hounding us, we can give because we want to be thought of as good people. We can have any number of motives for giving.

Loving is a little harder. But it is true that we can love for any number of reasons also. We often start loving someone for what they can do for us. That is a very selfish motivation, but it is true that that’s how we usually start loving. We might love how we feel when we are with someone. We might love them for the things they do for us. I think of parents, especially. Children begin loving their parents because the parents are always there for the kids. The parents provide the food and shelter and protection. The children respond with love. It’s not until after the children have matured that they begin to love the parents for who they really are.

The same is true in our special relationship, those who are most special to us. We love them for how they make us feel, and for what they might do for us first. Then, as our relationship matures, we begin to love them for who they are.

I think the same is true in our relationship with God. We love God because He first loved us. We love God because we have seen the answered prayers, we have seen His provisions and His guidance. But as our faith matures, we just love God. We love God for who He is. Our love becomes more unconditional. He doesn’t always have to be answering our prayers. He doesn’t have to be always proving, always guiding. We will love Him anyway. We love Him because He loves us.

This love in a mature relationship brings us right back to giving again. We can’t love unconditionally, in a mature relationship, with out giving. When we love God, we give to others as an expression of that love.


We can’t love with out giving...

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