Love Secure
1 John 4:16 (New International Version)
16 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.
I look through the window and see him working so hard in the garden in the hot sun. I take out a drink, which he gratefully takes from my hand, wiping his brow with a handkerchief. He sinks down into a lawn chair to rest for a moment and I sit on the garden wall, to keep him company while he rests.
Our conversation takes us to places that get a little edgy but we pull back from a place we don't want to be, and I apologize. What I said wasn't helpful.
"Well, maybe I was grouchy," he says.
"Maybe a little defensive," I say, "Can I have a hug?"
He stands stiffly to his feet, and we hug, my husband and I.
A conversation with a friend smooths out her hurt feelings of being disrespected. The friendship is important enough to not let such things go unaddressed. But afterwards we seek reassurance. Are we okay?
But then I read these words: "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us."
No matter how secure we are in other loves, we need reassurance. The ground can sometimes feel shaky.
But God's love is secure. How good to know and rely on that.
1 John 4:17 (New International Version)
17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
16 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.
I look through the window and see him working so hard in the garden in the hot sun. I take out a drink, which he gratefully takes from my hand, wiping his brow with a handkerchief. He sinks down into a lawn chair to rest for a moment and I sit on the garden wall, to keep him company while he rests.
Our conversation takes us to places that get a little edgy but we pull back from a place we don't want to be, and I apologize. What I said wasn't helpful.
"Well, maybe I was grouchy," he says.
"Maybe a little defensive," I say, "Can I have a hug?"
He stands stiffly to his feet, and we hug, my husband and I.
A conversation with a friend smooths out her hurt feelings of being disrespected. The friendship is important enough to not let such things go unaddressed. But afterwards we seek reassurance. Are we okay?
But then I read these words: "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us."
No matter how secure we are in other loves, we need reassurance. The ground can sometimes feel shaky.
But God's love is secure. How good to know and rely on that.
1 John 4:17 (New International Version)
17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
Comments
We always have that choice. And the way that you described it along with those scriptures made it a choice of love not to go to contention.
Thank you for this sharing. It encouraged.
Love A