Just now I was listening to a song by JJ Heller...a Christian artist that I was only recently introduced to. Well, introduced to her music, that is. A young woman in college, a dear family friend, sang one of her songs with an acoustic guitar in church a few Sundays ago, and it was quite powerful. The song is titled "Love Me" and is definitely worth listening to. A beautiful song with powerful lyrics. Many people in the congregation, including myself, were moved to tears.
The song asks the question, "Who will love me for me?" not for what we've done, or for what we'll become.
I was listening to the song just now, and am now asking God to help me have that kind of love for the people in my life. I want to model my heart after God's heart. I want to love unconditionally the people He has placed in my life for me to love.
Naturally, I have expectations, as we all do, of the people we know and love. There are certain expectations we have of spouses, of children, of other family members, of our friends, of our leaders, our co-workers, etc. However, I don't ever want anyone to feel that my love and/or acceptance has to be earned. I want the people I love to know that my love is genuine, full of grace, and always there. Since I'm human, that's not always an easy task. I'm sure I fail often. But I want to love as God loves. At least as much as is possible.
I thank God for loving me just for being me. I thank Him that He is consistent, full of abundant grace and mercy, and that His mercies are new each day. I thank Him for the assurance that He will never leave or forsake me. And I thank Him for laying on my heart that I need to learn to see others as He sees them and to love as He loves.
