Many of my squad-mates read the book “Love Does” on the race. I was not one of those people. Since I did not read the book I cannot tell you all of the things that love does. However, over the 23 short years of my life I can tell you about a few things that love does not do.
It does not have you sign a contract:
There is no disclaimer. You go into it blindly. You fail to notice the fine print that says once you sign up there is no way out. I have tried it on a few occasions. I have tried to let go and stop loving the people who have hurt me, but it doesn’t work. Most times in fact it makes me just love them even more.
Love does not tell you how painful it is:
It hurts when you say goodbye. It hurts when you are mad at someone, but they are the only one who can make you feel better. It hurts when someone else doesn’t feel the same way about the person you love.
Love does not always exist in the easy:
In fact it usually doesn’t. Really what is easy about trust, sacrifice, and limitless forgiveness?
Love does not tell you that it will consume your every thought:
I don’t know about you but I don’t normally spend my time thinking of things that I dislike. My thoughts throughout the days are filled with thinking about my friends, my family, my squad- mates, children, people I have meet around the world, and the places I have shared memories with them. Those are what I love. It is very rare to catch me thinking about mushrooms or doing the dishes.
Love does not release its grip on your heart:
It holds on tightly and wraps it in chains. Even if you are able to let go of someone there will still be some remains of love there.
Love does not let you choose the people you love:
Sometimes God calls you to love the people who aren’t always easy to love. It may be a foster child who has nightmares every night of their past. It may be one of your students who just flipped over a desk and cussed you out. It may be an abusive parent or relative. They will not be the easiest, but they may end up being the most important.
Love does not tell you that tears often accompany it:
Over this past year alone I have cried many many times because of love. Sometimes it is has been because of hurt, but most of the times it has been because of saying goodbyes, of being overwhelmed by how much God loves me, of falling in love over and over again and having to leave.
So lets face it LOVE SUCKS! It is not always mushy and accompanied by flowers and chocolate as many make it seem. It’s messy. It’s confusing. It’s painful. It’s difficult. It is consuming, and accompanied by tears. But there is one more thing that love does not do. One last thing I failed to mention that you might want to consider before you stop reading this depressing blog…
LOVE DOES NOT TELL YOU HOW WORTH IT IT WILL ULTIMATELY BE.
I mean just think about it. I could only think of 7 things that love doesn’t do. Take a look at the book “Love Does”. Take a look at the ultimate love story “The Bible”. Find the thousands and thousands of stories of limitless love and sacrifice. There are some truly amazing things that love does, things that overthrow the difficulties. Things that make choosing to love always worth it.
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by love. Sometimes I wish I could stop loving certain people because it seems too hard. Sometimes I feel like I love people too much. Sometimes I wonder if there is enough love left in me for someone. Then I pause for a minute and think about the love of my Daddy. My God. I think about how much he loves every single person on earth. I think about how His love is limitless. I think about all the pain and sacrifice He has had to encounter because me. There is simply no comparison in what I can do. But then I hear Him say that I don’t have to do it all, not on my own at least. Since He has that power all I have to do is let Him do the work. My love alone is not enough, but God uses me as a vessel for showing His love to the people I encounter.
And let me tell you something…IT IS WORTH EVERY SECOND.
