Pond or River

February 21, 2011
1 John 4:11 "Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other."

Speaking of love, I'm going to share a story with you about what I've found about love. Everybody wants to be loved, right? Well, sometimes instead of loving I spin my wheels trying to get people to love me. During those times I'm miserable, though! It's so stressful! What if they don't love me back? What if I'm not good enough? What if... What if... What if... is all I can think about, and it all ends up revolving around whom??? Me! Love is supposed to be self-sacrifice, not self-centeredness. So in this first scenario I'm trying to be loved, and in the second I'm trying to love. When I storp worring about what might happen to me or what I need, and I begin to just love, I'm so much happier! The people around me are too. I once heard of a river that was beautiful, but it flowed into a pool of water that was smelly and ugly. The moral to this story is that when we are giving love we are like the beautiful flowing river, but when we are only receiving it we look like the stagnant pool of water. We need to love, since God loved us like He did.

Dear Lord,
Forgive me for the times I've been a stagnant pond. Help me not worry about me, and instead start giving love to people, realizing You'll never let Your love for me run dry. Show me ways I can love others today, and help me do that. In Jesus' Name. Amen.