What I learned about love (the “significant other” kind).

1 John 4:19 

“We love because He first loved us.” 

Upon first inspection, it would be easy to conclude that we (girl+boy) love each other because Jesus loves us….aka…we are both “Jesus-lovers,” (ie. Jesus-followers) so yay, we can love each other! And for the longest time, this is what I thought. However (not an ominous “however,” altough that “however” IS a loaded “however” because a LOT has happened in the span of “the longest time”), over these past couple of years God has slowly and many times, painfully, been teaching me and revealing to me, what this kind of love REALLY means. 

So what does this verse mean? Well, today, I would answer that first of all, it means that He loves me SO much, and SO uncondictionally, and that will never change. And in realization of this, I am SO overwhelmed and so moved that I desire nothing more than to spend a lifetime returning that love to Him. The “significant other” part comes in when I find someone who has had that same realization and the same yearning to do nothing more than pour out his love back onto God. The love comes FIRST from God and His love for us (the boy separately, and the girl separately) and in the pursuit of lavishing that love back onto Him, we find someone who desires so strongly that same thing (notice how I said “in pursuit,” using pursuit in the ACTIVE tense, meaning that it is found whislt pursuing God and not the “significant other”). The love then comes from realizing and falling in love with the fact that someone else loves God SO much that we can’t help but spur each other on and encourage each other and love each other. Then, this kind of love will not be about rules and religion; “significant other” love is then no different and not at all separate from loving God, but a very large and significant part of it. This kind of love loses all selfish expectations and pride; there is no more selfishness in the love because it is not of the “self,” or even the other, but stems from and draws source from God. The key “pursuit” doesn’t come from searching after the “other,” and seeking after the other for satisfaction, but from seeking and searching after the source, God. Because from there was the source of satisfaction in the first place. Boy doesn’t complete girl, or vice versa. God completes boy. God completes girl. Boy+Girl TOGETHER express a completion of His love. And that’s why you’ll never feel fully satisfied with him/her. But you will find full and abounding satisfaction in Him. And when we realize this and are so settled and confident in this, love will then overflow from us and (in the context of this topic), the “significant other.” It is in being satisfied in the confidence of His love for me, I will be able to put my “significant other” before myself because I won’t rely on him and expect him to fulfill me completely. It will not be a bitter sacrifice but a love overflowing from Love Himself. 



“We love because He first loved us.” 



What a cool verse. :)

loveonherwrists:

wrotten:

under the booty 

under the sea vs. ms. new booty

omg

Hahah sooo catchy!!!

(via judithlee)

"She seems so cool, so focused, so quiet, yet her eyes remain fixed upon the horizon. You think you know all there is to know about her immediately upon meeting her, but everything you think you know is wrong. Passion flows through her like a river of blood."

- Neil Gaiman (via embracethevision)

(via honeylovexox)

“My boo Tisha gonna get a star named after her, I’m romantical like dat.”

love this blog.

"Don’t try to think less of yourself, but try to think of yourself less."

- George E. Vaillant

awesomaticeric:

1.PLUG IN YOUR HEADPHONES

2.PRESS PLAY

3.CLOSE YOUR EYES

ENJOY A VIRTUAL HAIRCUT. 

DO IT NOW.

wowfunnyblog:

infinite-swag-blog:

Cute kid has chosen the Dark Side

Hahahahahahahhahahahahahah so entertaining!

Such a cute and creative idea! 

Jesus Is Not Your Girlfriend.

ohmywurd:

Romance is a wonderful thing. The long talks, smiles, interlocked hands and purposeless walks— all of these things make us feel alive. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been single for years or married for 60, we can all relate to Tom in 500 Days of Summer when he dances through the streets to “You Make My Dreams” because he won Summer’s heart. Feelings can carry us to the top of the world. 

The problem is, feelings fade. I heard a friend recently admit that he has fallen hard for dozens of girls only to break up with them after dating for a few months because the butterflies stopped flying. And that is the way our culture works—we date people until they cease to give us what we want. 

Although I’m sure I could write a great deal about the problem of mistaking emotional romance for love, that’s not what this post is about. I’m writing this because I’ve seen many people (including myself) act as though following Christ is like being in a petty high school relationship. When things get difficult, complicated, confusing or unfulfilling, we walk away. 

Most of the time, this is really subtle. It’s leaving a church because the worship music doesn’t give you goose bumps, or neglecting prayer because you don’t feel God’s arms tangibly hugging you like you once did. The problem is, Jesus did not come to sprinkle magic feel-good emotions on us. He came to lead us into the Kingdom of God, and following him there can be tough. 

I’ll be the first to admit I struggle in my faith. I often feel unsatisfied and turn to accomplishments, approval, possessions and physical intimacy to get my fix of fulfillment. But I have to assume this emptiness was felt by Abraham when he waited 25 years for God’s promise, or by Joseph when his brothers left him for dead, or by Paul when his ship wrecked in a far off land, and yet they pressed on. 

Even when we can’t feel Christ’s love and our hearts long to run a hundred different directions, we can still offer devotion, knowing that God rewards those who seek Him. Because really, Jesus is not a girlfriend to break up with, but rather our Lord to worship and our King to serve. 

I needed to hear this.