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16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us
1 John 4:16-19
A little boy in my class has a stuffed animal frog. "Froggy", as he calls it, has seen his share of love. That same frog has been coming with him, to and from school, almost everyday for the four years I've known him. His stuffed animal, which seems to be less and less fluffy with each passing day, has been smudged with dirt, rolled on the ground, and tossed to the ceiling. More than one little string has come loose and it's definitely taken on the wear and tear of day to day life. Every now and then, this little boy comes to school without his frog, letting us all know that Froggy stayed home to be washed. The next day Froggy comes to school looking refreshed, clean and ready to be loved on all over again.
Lately, I've found myself feeling a little bit like the worn down and over squeezed version of Froggy. Day to day life has the tendency to wear me down at times. It's not that life isn't good, that I don't love the adventure, and that I don't appreciate all the moments I'm given to know love. But, sometimes I find myself running so thin that I have almost nothing left to give. It's in those times, that I have to remember the source of all love and all life.
I think as a human, with a "need to control things" personality, I feel like if I don't take things into my own hands, they won't get done. I give myself a certain burden to handle things. I am constantly, constantly just trying to check one more thing off the list, get one more thing done, love one more person, hang on for one more day, and I never want to miss out on an opportunity. Yes, this can sometimes be a good thing that I constantly push myself to grow and love more, but more often than not, it leaves me almost exhausted. I feel myself running out of steam and become uptight, everything starts to upset me, and things become a little dramatic. And I start to really dislike who I am. I feel like the frog who is low on fluff and covered in dirt. It is at those times I have to remind myself to step back and take a break. It becomes time, like froggy, to take a break from day to day life and allow myself to just know the love God has for me. Still this thought brings me anxiety. What great plan that God has for me would I miss out on, if I didn't participate in everything I could in the day? What chance to love would I be missing out on?
Isn't it crazy to think that I, in my self absorbed mind, believe that the world would stop running if I took myself out of it for a minute?! God, who runs the universe, who makes all things work together for our good, and who holds everything together, I'm confident can still shine His love to the world, even if I take a few days to just relax by myself. While God needs each of us to radiate His love, the world knows it not because of what we do or don't do, but because of what He does for each of us. The problem was that in my mind, I was becoming the source of love. But in reality, I'm not. I'm nowhere close to it. God, however, is that source. We as humans don't create love. We don't initiate it. And we won't keep it if we base it on ourselves.
God is love. We only reflect His love. We, on our own, cannot produce love. Each of us, can only express love as a mirror of the love God shows to us. Only in knowing God's love can we show it. If we are constantly trying to radiate love, but don't take the time to know God's love and to allow ourselves to feel it, we can't shine it. Being caught up in only accomplishing love, doesn't produce love. I alone, do not make or break God's ability to love each of us. And I cannot share His love with others if I don't stop and allow myself the time for Him to fully love me!
That Froggy knows full well the love of the little boy who cuddles him every single day. He's not the source of the boy's love for him. He only takes in all the love the little boy has to give and in turn he reflects that love. The Froggy is a product of all that love, like we are a product of God's love. From time to time even Froggy gets a moment to rest and rejuvenate his batteries! And the little boy, even in the few brief times Froggy takes a break from the adventures of the day, still loves him and that love he has is evident. And when he returns, Froggy has so much renewed love to give.
Each of us is more precious than the beloved Froggy in the eyes of God. Each of us is soaked and covered in His unfailing love. And more times than not we radiate that love without even knowing it. Give yourself the chance to embrace that love and remember that you aren't the creator of it, but an example of what the love of God is and how it can consume a heart and change the world. Trust that God's love will shine through you in every moment if you give yourself over to it completely!
1 John 4:16-19
A little boy in my class has a stuffed animal frog. "Froggy", as he calls it, has seen his share of love. That same frog has been coming with him, to and from school, almost everyday for the four years I've known him. His stuffed animal, which seems to be less and less fluffy with each passing day, has been smudged with dirt, rolled on the ground, and tossed to the ceiling. More than one little string has come loose and it's definitely taken on the wear and tear of day to day life. Every now and then, this little boy comes to school without his frog, letting us all know that Froggy stayed home to be washed. The next day Froggy comes to school looking refreshed, clean and ready to be loved on all over again.
Lately, I've found myself feeling a little bit like the worn down and over squeezed version of Froggy. Day to day life has the tendency to wear me down at times. It's not that life isn't good, that I don't love the adventure, and that I don't appreciate all the moments I'm given to know love. But, sometimes I find myself running so thin that I have almost nothing left to give. It's in those times, that I have to remember the source of all love and all life.
I think as a human, with a "need to control things" personality, I feel like if I don't take things into my own hands, they won't get done. I give myself a certain burden to handle things. I am constantly, constantly just trying to check one more thing off the list, get one more thing done, love one more person, hang on for one more day, and I never want to miss out on an opportunity. Yes, this can sometimes be a good thing that I constantly push myself to grow and love more, but more often than not, it leaves me almost exhausted. I feel myself running out of steam and become uptight, everything starts to upset me, and things become a little dramatic. And I start to really dislike who I am. I feel like the frog who is low on fluff and covered in dirt. It is at those times I have to remind myself to step back and take a break. It becomes time, like froggy, to take a break from day to day life and allow myself to just know the love God has for me. Still this thought brings me anxiety. What great plan that God has for me would I miss out on, if I didn't participate in everything I could in the day? What chance to love would I be missing out on?
Isn't it crazy to think that I, in my self absorbed mind, believe that the world would stop running if I took myself out of it for a minute?! God, who runs the universe, who makes all things work together for our good, and who holds everything together, I'm confident can still shine His love to the world, even if I take a few days to just relax by myself. While God needs each of us to radiate His love, the world knows it not because of what we do or don't do, but because of what He does for each of us. The problem was that in my mind, I was becoming the source of love. But in reality, I'm not. I'm nowhere close to it. God, however, is that source. We as humans don't create love. We don't initiate it. And we won't keep it if we base it on ourselves.
God is love. We only reflect His love. We, on our own, cannot produce love. Each of us, can only express love as a mirror of the love God shows to us. Only in knowing God's love can we show it. If we are constantly trying to radiate love, but don't take the time to know God's love and to allow ourselves to feel it, we can't shine it. Being caught up in only accomplishing love, doesn't produce love. I alone, do not make or break God's ability to love each of us. And I cannot share His love with others if I don't stop and allow myself the time for Him to fully love me!
That Froggy knows full well the love of the little boy who cuddles him every single day. He's not the source of the boy's love for him. He only takes in all the love the little boy has to give and in turn he reflects that love. The Froggy is a product of all that love, like we are a product of God's love. From time to time even Froggy gets a moment to rest and rejuvenate his batteries! And the little boy, even in the few brief times Froggy takes a break from the adventures of the day, still loves him and that love he has is evident. And when he returns, Froggy has so much renewed love to give.
Each of us is more precious than the beloved Froggy in the eyes of God. Each of us is soaked and covered in His unfailing love. And more times than not we radiate that love without even knowing it. Give yourself the chance to embrace that love and remember that you aren't the creator of it, but an example of what the love of God is and how it can consume a heart and change the world. Trust that God's love will shine through you in every moment if you give yourself over to it completely!
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