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When I was a teenager I heard that “line” from a lot of
boys, so much so that I no longer believed it.
The reason I couldn’t accept this outburst of affection was because
their actions never matched up with their words. They seldom do.
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Believing Our Belief on Daily Favor.
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No, I’m Not Your Valentine
When I was sixteen years old, a certain young man from
school told me that he too loved me on Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t something unusual considering it
was the holiday for sharing such emotions, so I didn’t think it to be serious.
However, he continued sharing his feelings of affliction,
yes affliction, to me to the point I didn’t want to hear those three words come
out of his mouth. I would get so angry
with him and demand that he stop declaring his feelings knowing that I didn’t
love him back. What a pest I thought.
Did that stop him?
No. Despite how I felt, he kept telling me how he felt even when I never
reciprocated. Oh, if I could just get him to stop saying that he loved me!
Love Changes Everything
For the next few years I dated as any “normal” teenager
would with this boy from homeroom still bothering me with that three word charm.
He sat right behind me and in a short
time we became good friends, no best friends. It wasn’t long before I shared
all my thoughts and woes with him.
When things were going good with my dates he would listen
and say, “I love you.” During my
break-ups he would comfort me with his “love you” quote that seemed never to
tire. He even broke-up with a few of
them for me, how great of a friend is that, and why would I want anything to change?
Finally, I gave in and said that I would go to a church
Christmas banquet with this boy as long as no one else asked me. Pretty bad huh? I didn’t want to encourage my friend into
thinking I had feelings for him when I just considered us “buds”.
It wasn’t until our senior year of high school that
something changed in our relationship and I started to notice that this
person’s actions matched up with what he had been telling me for three years. After more than a few thousand “I love you’s”
I was able to respond for the first time.
Do you want to know what made me see things
differently?
One thing that I had in common with my father was
gardening, and whenever I got the chance to help him plant something I quickly
volunteered for the task. It was during
one of those plantings that some feelings revealed some “seeds” I hadn’t
noticed.
I was working in a large tiered flower bed outside the
back entrance of my parent’s home on a Saturday afternoon. The parking area was adjacent to it so anyone
pulling in the drive would obviously see me. That really wasn’t a concern since
I wasn’t expecting visitors. You don’t
have to read between the lines to know what I’m about to tell you do you?
With hair pulled up on my head, I was covered in soil
from my face to toes. My clothes were
rather dirty from digging; not a pleasing sight for greeting guests you might
say. You can imagine how I felt when my
“then” boyfriend had arrived to see me at the same time my homeroom best friend
did.
How awkward … both boys walked up to me as I was in my
digging position. Shall I say something
was about to become uncovered?
I was apologizing for my appearance when my boyfriend suddenly
openly exclaimed how I looked a mess! I
didn’t appreciate his comment, but took it on the “dirty” chin. Although I was willing to let his unkind
words slide, someone else wasn’t about to let them go. My best friend said, “She would look beautiful even if she was wearing a brown sack.”
Right then and there, “bing” went the strings of my
heart. (To get the full effect of this
you need to read it with a southern accent.)
The following year I married that man who refused to stop
saying “I love you” with more than his words.
You lovingly know him as “hubby” and he still shares his feelings dozens
of times each day. He never lets me go
more than a few hours without telling me those same three words. His love hasn’t diminished or stopped even
when I haven’t responded with overwhelming joy.
What He Said
As I was having an extremely exhausting time trying to
tap into what God wanted me to share this week, He kept bringing me back to what
He said ... "tell them I love them.” The
problem was that I couldn’t figure out how to write a story that would fit what
God wanted me to share with you until late
last evening.
God showed to me through my own experience how He feels
about us. For over 6,000 years God’s been telling mankind that He loves us
through creation and all the things He has done to draw us back to Him.
From the first man who walked on this earth until the
last man who will, there will always be sin; the very thing that caused the
separation from God. Although sin enters
the life of man, God refuses to let something so dirty keep us from His love.
The Heavenly Father made a way to bring us back to Him
through sending His Son Jesus Christ as our Redeemer. The Bible tells of a love that is greater
than any other in the passage of John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His
only Begotten Son, that whoever believes on Him will not perish, but receive
everlasting life (in Heaven with Him). (emphasis mine)
Jesus told of His love for the Father and us when He gave
His life for our sins. In going to the
cross Jesus took action on the Words He spoke, backing up His feelings as true.
If that isn’t love, what is?
When we accept God’s Son into our heart and lives, we are
telling Him that we believe His love for us is valid and trustworthy.
Journey to I Love You
All those years ago my husband saw something he loved in
me. In reality I was rather dirty and
messy from what I had been doing in that flowerbed. Even though he saw the dirt, he didn’t label
me as “dirty”, nor did he stop loving me.
He wasn’t looking on the outside, but at the real me. The dirt was something that could be washed
away.
Upon salvation Christ accepts us and removes our dirty
sin, washing away everything that came between the Heavenly Father and us. God looked beyond our faults, weaknesses,
sins and inabilities, redeeming the person He has always loved from the
beginning.
It took me a long time to say the words “I love you” to
someone, because I didn’t trust the person(s) who said them. Jesus has said that He loves us, but have we
listened to those words or believed them?
In life’s travels the journey can get rather dirty, because we all have issues making it hard to trust God's love. The
paths are covered with the things of this world that want to cover up what Jesus
has told us through His Word. Even if we
never tell God that we love Him, it won’t change the way He feels about
us. We are beautiful and loved by
God. He sees beyond the “dirty sack” and
is willing to forgive all our sin.
There is nothing we can do to stop His feelings or
prevent Him from loving you or me. Now
that’s the kind of love I want to believe in and receive.
The Apostle Paul did his best to make it clear how God
feels about us when he spoke what he believed in the book of Romans.
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things
to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans8:38-39 NKJV)
This Week’s Challenge:
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that there really is
someone who can love us dirt and all, but there is. The challenge that God wants us to take this
week seems rather simple, but for some it will almost be impossible.
Here it is: Believe God loves you. I mean really believe
it, even if you don’t feel loved or understand how He could love you.
Jesus wanted us to believe and experience the love of God
so much that it was in His closing prayer before He died that He made this
request:
“O Righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known
You; and these have known that You sent Me (Jesus referring to His
followers). And I have declared to them
Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in
them, and I in them.” (from John 17 NKJV)
How many times does God have to say “I love you” before
you believe? His grace is His favor, creation is the evidence of it, and Jesus
is the deliverer and witness of that love.
It’s time to accept the love of God and love Him back.
God isn’t asking for a Valentine with wishy-washy promises.
He wants to be the love of your life, now and forever. His love will change everything in your life.
Will you accept the challenge to believe what Jesus asked
the Father on our behalf? Will you let
the love of God into your life and fulfill a prayer for someone else – Jesus?
Until
next time, I’m loving God’s favor.
“Believe I will always love you.”
Jesus Christ
by Janeen Michael-Lanier
Maybe you don’t know the Living God that I
know, but would like to have this kind of favor in your life also. Click on the above tab “Tell Me” for more
information on becoming a child of the Savior.
Content and Image Copyright from Favored1. Do not copy.
Scripture
reference was taken from the New King James Bible Version provided by Bible Gateway.Image credit: Google Images or Dreamstime Creative Common License if not specified.
Image: Love Sick Puppy Valentine Rejection Love Changes Everything Girl in Brown Sack John 3:16 Believe
Disclaimer Notes: Results may vary due to lack of belief.
