Love 2

Love means being "for" the one who is loved.

“If I love someone it means I have certain hopes and intentions and wishes for them. I’m in their corner. I long for them to flourish and blossom. I want them to realize all their potential. I want them to become filled with virtue and moral beauty.”

This is a good question to ask ourselves. Am I for that person or do I want them to fail so that I can “succeed”? Or maybe I just don’t care one way or the other if the people around me are growing closer to God or realizing their goals or are included in the conversation.

“This means sometimes I may need to do that which will cause pain for the one I love. Love is often confused with softness. When we speak of doing ‘loving things’ we sometimes think it means ‘always doing what the person I love would want me to do.” This is of course not love; it’s not even sane. Try it with a three year old, and odds are she’ll never make it to four.”

In many cases authentic love will unnerve, offend, disturb, or even hurt those who are being loved.
“Being for someone is deeper than just wanting to spare them pain. If I am really for a person, I am willing to risk saying painful things, if pain is the only way to bring growth. ‘For the Lord disciplines those whom whom he loves.”

“To be for someone means I identify with him, I’m cheering him on; I celebrate her victories and mourn her setbacks. It means I deeply and sincerely wish him well.” “This shows how difficult it is to love. It doesn’t take much truth-telling for me to admit that I don’t want my enemies to succeed. Much more humbling is the fact that deep down I often don’t even want my friends to succeed too much.”
Why wouldn’t I want my friends to succeed too much?
Probably because it I base my value in my own success instead of Christ’s success. I don’t see my value as a son of God but instead I see my value as someone who is better at life than someone else or better than the norm.




Remember this is a command for us to do, but also something that God is already doing to us. And unless we receive his love, we will never be able to love the way that we are called to do.

Is Jesus “for” us?
How can we see this?
Are we “for” God?