He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

This photo reminds me of something every young girl does at least one time in her life. As she pulls the petals off one by one she says, "He loves me, he loves me not." Of course, it's all about me. :-) What if I turn it around and pull off the petals saying, "I love you, I love you not?" I have to admit that I remember manipulating my petal pulling to make sure it ended with, "He loves me." Why can I not do the same when I turn it around? I can make sure my last choice is to say I love you! This seems kind of silly, I know, but can it really be that simple?

Can I choose to love? Of course I can. I choose to love my husband every day. Well, honestly, he's easy to love. He takes such good care of me. He loves me. He shares my home work load and has all our married life. He, for a number of years now has fixed dinner every night. When we were first married he used to ask me why I loved him. My response was always the same--I have no reason to, I just do, because that reason could go away and where would my love be then?

What about those who are not easy to love? What about that person who smells badly or that co-worker who gets on your last nerve? Can I really choose to love them? Yes, I absolutely can. I can start my day spending some time with God and ask Him to be my reminder during my day. If I am being honest and truly desire to love as He wants me to He will give me all the help I am willing to take. To be transparent with you, there are times during my day that I have to take a mental step back and say, "God I really need Your help here. I do NOT want to love in this moment." What happens? He is faithful. When I am willing, He steps in where I lack. This is what Scripture means when it says that His power is made perfect in my weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). His power comes through when I admit to my weakness.

Many times just doing something over and over again helps me feel it. Sometimes I have to act loving to begin to feel loving. Is that faking it? I don't think so. I think it is acting in faith, believing God will allow the feeling love to follow the acting love.

Try it today. When you have an unlovable moment put God to the test. Be willing. Allow His power to come through for you when your weakness wants to kick in and take over. Love affectionately. Delight in honoring another.