This is a season of revelations hence, today, what God revealed to me are: a.)
I was blinded by the wrong kind of love; b.) I was praying for the wrong kind
of man; and c.) I was trying to write my own love story.
Love
is not about feeling electrified when you hold his hands; it is not about
feeling ‘kilig’ whenever he looks straight into your eyes; and not even about
the times and memories you shared. The bible has provided us several verses
that would define what love really means. In fact, chapter 13 in the book of 1
Corinthians is devoted to that. However, merely reading this may not be enough
to understand what it truly means to love. I am not saying that I am an expert
when it comes to love, but as they say, you will never know that there is
light, when you haven’t seen darkness. In this case, I was able to realise that
I was trapped in a wrong conception of love by knowing deeper the greatest
epitome of love- God Himself, for we can find in 1 John 4:8 that God is love.
God’s love is selfless, as Romans 5:8 states
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We are sinners hence, we do not deserve His love yet He chose to love us. And He demonstrated that by dying on the cross for us.God’s love is unconditional:
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
God’s love is everlasting:
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness (Jeremiah 31:3).
God’s love is perfect:
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love (1 John 4:18).
God is the source of love:
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him (1 John 4: 16).
With the
Truth about love enumerated, I think I am ready now to proceed to God’s second
revelation. I am not ashamed to admit that I was hoping for my prince charming
to be macho, good-looking, smart, etc. I thank God for saying ‘no’ to my
prayers, for rescuing me from my past relationships, and for changing my
perspective on this matter. Relationship with the opposite sex means commitment
that goes beyond your emotions and feelings; and in the long term, leads to
marriage. Ephesians 5: 22-33 talks about the responsibilities of both wives and
husbands:
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
These verses let me
realize that I must desire for a man who can lead me and our family in the
future, having a vision and direction in life- a man whose plans are in line
with God’s will. He must be a man therefore, full of wisdom, whose source is
God alone.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.He must be able to selflessly protect me, not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.
28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Above all, he must be a man of God- a man who knows God and loves
God. It also follows then that he obeys God’s commands for this is what it
means to love God. Having the knowledge of God, he shall see me not as an
ordinary woman but a daughter of God- worthy of his love, respect, and
faithfulness.
Finally, I would like to share with
you how I was trying to be the author of my own love story. Last year, I asked
God to prepare my heart to fall in love, once again. This year, I am asking God to let me start my
love story with Mr. God –given-special-someone. What is common in both of my
prayer requests is that they are both self-centered. I read books to help me
prepare my heart. I organized outings with friends (who are mostly boys),
hoping that one of them may be my boyfriend. I was doing things on my own- my
own means, own strength based on my own understanding of love. It was hard for
me to find joy in being single. No wonder I became impatient, felt so lonely,
and often, complained to God. Guess what God has reminded me today: that He
knows the desires of my heart, and He is more than able to give the man He has
for me only for one condition- I must let Him be God!
I am His ‘work-in-progress’. You
are, too. Everyday is a chance to make things right- not by our own means, but
by God’s grace working in us.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. -Habakkuk 2:3
xx,
D
Photos are not mine. <http://worththewaitblog.wordpress.com/> <http://www.actlikeaman.org/relationships/>