What Is Love?
OK, I’m sorry for getting this song stuck in your head.
Maybe you’re hoping all Valentine's talk is over, maybe you’re still munching on chocolate candy and feeling the glow of love day. Wherever this holiday found you (and left you), let’s do a little no filter processing together. You in?
What's the difference between being loving and wanting to seem loving?
A few years ago, Holy Spirit poked my heart and asked me: Do you want to love people, or do you want to seem like you love people? And here’s what’s interesting: the two options will often send you in opposite directions. If you wake up and determine that you want other people to think you’re loving and kind, you’ll go one way. And if you wake up and decide you want to love people, you might go in a very opposite direction.
In this case, I think this is one where social media has exposed this tendency in hearts. I don’t believe the internet invented this dilemma, but rather - it has brought this concerning desire to the surface.
For example,
I can post a picture of my son and me cuddling, or I can cuddle with him.
I can create a graphic for Instagram that has an excellent quote about justice, or I can take care of my neighbor.
I can read + repost an article about refugees or donate to a fund to help them get relocated.
The two often seem interchangeable, but they’re not.
And the semi-frustrating thing that I’ve found is truly listening to God, obeying His call on my life, and loving the people He’s called me to often means forsaking the desire for other people to have called me loving.
I used to ask people, “What do you most want others to say about you at the end of your life?” And I’ve stopped for this very reason.
So now I ask, “What do you most want to be true about you at the end of your life?” And mine is this: I want to love God and love people. And whatever people have to say is their business. Amen?
Comment on this post, + let’s talk about it: what’s the difference for you between being loving and seeming loving?
