A Lesson in Love from the Lover of My Soul

Sometimes I make things way more complicated than necessary.  Sometimes I search high and low for answers to big questions only to find them staring me in the face in the most obvious of places.  Does this ever happen to you?  Lately I've been practically agonizing over the question what does it mean to really love someone.  Sometimes I find that after years of thinking I know something backward and forward, it turns out I don't have the slightest clue about it.  This is how I was starting to feel about the issue of love.  Maybe I don't really know what it means to love someone the way Jesus loves them, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it.

So I've been praying for insight and wisdom and practical answers to the question.  This morning it hit me.  It was almost like Jesus was standing at the front of a classroom at a chalkboard ready to write the answer down.  "Are you ready for this Beth?" I could almost hear him asking.  "Because I wouldn't want you to miss this.  Maybe you should write it down.  Here's the big, complicated answer to your big, perplexing question."

1.  Love God
2.  Receive God's love

I almost fell off the couch this morning when a cold splash of the obvious hit me in the face.  Of course!  We can know how to love others only when we love God, because it is only then that we can actually see other people through God's eyes.  That random guy on the street is just a random guy until I see Him through the Father's lenses of love.  That irritating first grader is just another annoying child until I see her through God' eyes.

Loving God is how we love those around us, because when we love the Lord our hearts are transformed and conformed to his will, and we start to look, act, and think more and more like Jesus.  I think this is why when asked what the greatest commandment is Jesus responded, "Love the Lord your God with all your soul and with all your heart and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."  There is a reason loving God comes before loving others.  Only by loving God can we ever hope to achieve sincere love for those around us.

Receiving God's love can be difficult, but it's also a lesson in loving others.  When we allow God to pour out his love in our lives, it naturally flows out of us onto others.  Think about it: God is eternal, and he comes to dwell in our very hearts, minds and souls.  When you try to cram infinity into something finite, it naturally spills out all over the place!  I have found that when I simply bask in the fact that God loves me with an unconditional, unparalleled kind of love, I not only receive love, but I have it in droves to give away to others.

So maybe it's not that complicated.  Maybe it's just a matter of being in tune with the will of God and seeking His face at every turn.  Because when we pursue a relationship with the one who loves our souls, we get the ultimate lesson in loving others.