Seeds of Love
There was a time when I did everything I could to show my
love to a certain person. But it seemed that every time I
reached out to love, the person slapped me back with
criticism and harsh treatment. This went on for months. One
day I was fed up.
I complained to God. "I have had it. Now You are going to
have to talk to me about this. Every time I show Your love
to this person, I get anger thrown back in my face!" The
Lord began to speak to me. "John, you need to develop faith
in the love of God!"
"What do You mean?" I asked.
"He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap
corruption," He explained, "but he who sows to the Spirit
will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not
grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap
if we do not lose heart" (see Galatians 6:8-9). You need to
realize that when you sow the love of God, you will reap the
love of God. You need to develop faith in this spiritual
law-even though you may not harvest it from the field in
which you sowed, or as quickly as you would like.
The Lord continued. "In My greatest hour of need, My closest
friends deserted Me. Judas betrayed Me, Peter denied Me and
the rest fled for their lives. Only John followed from afar.
I had cared for them for over three years, feeding them and
teaching them. Yet as I died for the sins of the world, I
forgave. I released all of them-from My friends who had
deserted Me to the Roman guard who had crucified Me. They
didn't ask for forgiveness, yet I freely gave it. I had
faith in the Father's love.
"I knew that because I had sown love I would reap love from
many sons and daughters of the kingdom. Because of My
sacrifice of love, they would love Me.
"I said to `love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do
good to those who hate you, and pray for those who
spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons
of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the
evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust.
"`For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?
Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet
your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not
even the tax collectors do so?"' (Matt. 5:44-47).
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
I realized that the love I was giving was being sown to the
Spirit, and eventually I would reap those seeds of love. I
didn't know from where, but I knew the harvest would come.
No longer did I see it as a failure when love wasn't
returned from the person I was giving it to. It freed me to
love that person even more!
If more Christians recognized this, they wouldn't give up
and become offended. Usually this is not the type of love we
walk in. We walk in a selfish love that is easily
disappointed when our expectations are not met.
If I have expectations about certain persons, those people
can let me down. They will disappoint me to the degree that
they fall short of my expectations. But if I have no
expectations about someone, anything given is a blessing and
not something owed. We set ourselves up for offense when we
require certain behaviors from those with whom we have
relationships. The more we expect, the greater the potential
offense.
Bevere, John. The Bait of Satan. Lake Mary, Florida,
Charisma House, 1997, p. 10-12
www.charismahouse.com