"I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John 17:23 KJV)
"Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us." (1 John 4:11-12 NLT)
The more I think about this, the more I can clearly see my need to love more than I currently think that I love. We might think we know love, but once we realize how much we should love one another, we see just how much more we should love, dying to ourselves, and putting the needs of others, before the cares of ourselves!
Sometimes I think I might be using my wife as an excuse to get out of volunteering for certain needs within the church. Not that I don't need to be here for her, because she really can't do anything on her own. But I do have other resources and people that can assist me; I just feel like sometimes I could try harder to make the effort to work things out.
For your information, God does not need our money, nor our work. If we won't do something that God has put upon our heart, then He has many more that will step up and get it done; but we will lose out on a blessing; if not, a great chance to experience the way to be a servant of God. Those that are truly servants, look for the chance to serve; waiting for the pricking in their hearts, as soon as the chance to serve is mentioned, they step up to the plate, hoping to hit a homerun.
There is no greater feeling than the way you feel helping others; especially when you aren't looking for anything in return, but the satisfaction of doing your part and serving God! We should never feel as though we earned anything; we don't serve to earn; we serve to give away!
Anywho; apart from that, this is about love! Love does not keep record of what it is spent on; and it surely doesn't keep a record of what its absorbed from being wronged. To that, I have been found lacking and in need of repenting for my foolishness. Forgiveness requires the ability to forget; but we are sometimes incapable of forgetting, and we just add more coals to a fire that has to be put out!
There might be a way, put it requires that we can truly die to ourselves...
"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first." (1 John 4:16-19 NLT)
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