Me or Christ?

"Love works. It is life's most powerful motivator and has far greater depth and meaning than most people realize. It always does what is best for others and can empower us to face the greatest of problems." -The Love Dare

When someone says the word "love" most of us think of a relationship between a husband and wife, newly engaged people, a father/mother to their children, or maybe even grandparents, Aunts or Uncles to their grand-kids/nieces/nephews. Even then, it's not a deep meaning...in today's society. Loving someone is a "feeling," one that makes one feel good about themselves.

Love has such a great meaning to it. Ask any couple who has been married longer than 30 years. Then again, perhaps we should look at the love of someone who loved us first, when most people didn't even love them. One who didn't even have a single prideful or selfish thought with that love. Someone who died for us...
willingly...so that we might have life. He was the greatest example of pure, selfless love. So many people today "fall in love" only to "fall" right back out of it. They make hasty decisions, and later must be ripped apart for not understanding true love and being unwilling to work together.

God gave up everything for us. US. The most selfish, prideful, impatient...just plain sinful beings on the face of the earth. We in turn, crucified Him, mocked Him, spat on Him...and hated Him. We might say "Well, *I* didn't do that. I love Jesus! That was a bunch of awful people a long time ago" but no, the truth is WE really did put Him on that cross....every sinful decision that we make is what put Him on that cross and hammered those nails in. Every time we are prideful, lustful, every time we lie...every selfish thought and act is what put Him on the cross. Like the song says "I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross." It was the most painful experience any person could ever go through. Just because He was Jesus doesn't mean He didn't feel it. He was 100% man and 100% God. He bled, sweat, and cried...just like every human. He felt every sin this world has made...and WILL make...as He died!

In relationships...older ones or new ones...it must be centered around Christ.

"We've all demonstrated selfishness, hatred and pride. And unless something is done to cleanse us of these ungodly attributes, we will stand before God guilty as charged (Romans 6:23). That's why if you're not right with God, you can't truly love because He is the source of that love."
"You can't give what you don't have. So the hard news is this: love that is able to withstand every pressure is out of your reach, as long as you're only looking within yourself to find it. You need someone who can give you that kind of love. "Love is from God" (1 John 4:7)."

It must be selfless. We must love the other person more than ourselves, and be willing to give up what WE want for the better of that relationship. There must be communication, and TONS of patience! If you don't have patience then you will have THE hardest time.

"Love will inspire you to become a patient person. When you choose to be patience, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. You are slow to anger. You choose to have a long fuse instead of a quick temper. Rather than being restless and demanding, love helps you settle down and begin extending mercy to those around you. Patience beings an internal calm during an external storm. No one likes to be around an impatient person. It causes you to overreact in angry, foolish, and regrettable ways. The irony of anger towards a wrongful action is that it spawns new wrongs of it's own. Anger almost never makes things better. In fact, it usually generates additional problems. But patience stops problems in their tracks." -The Love Dare

This world has put every spotlight they can on "me" and what "I" want. Forget others, just do whatever YOU want or what makes YOU feel good. We can't get away from it. We're pressured and tempted everywhere we go to give in to the "me" centered life. I am sad to say I give in to that a lot. I start thinking about Jessica, and how a situation will affect HER...who cares about everyone else. How un-Christ-like is that?! To take that gift of selfless love, that amazing peace of heart and pure joy we get from doing things for others, expecting nothing in return. What great joy we're missing out on by thinking of ourselves.

Now, the question is this: Do we really WANT to be Christ-like? Do we want to be able to love like Christ loves us, or do we want to live our life with shallow feelings and a mind that is always centered on "me"? I've got to tell you, think about yourself too much and even YOU will start to dislike you.

So that's the challenge I'm setting for myself; to love like Christ and reap the joys He will give. :)