This came to me one day when I was feeling angry about the internal battles of hurt and anguish I was going through. I couldn’t understand how there could be a being up above who loved me and would allow me to feel the way I was. I was pondering the possibility of such a person existing when a thought came to me line upon line, precept upon precept until I could feel my Saviors love fill my heart.
Sometimes in life we feel remorse because we mess up, and sometimes we feel sadness because other people mess up, most of the time our hurt is caused from a mixture of both. It’s hard to forgive others for hurting us, for causing us pain in our life. If they loved us then why would they hurt us so bad? Have you ever heard the saying “love makes you do stupid things”. Well I am going to take a different twist on that. I’m not talking about the ‘fall in love’ type of love; I’m talking about family or parenting love. Is it real love to give into your child’s every whim? Or is it teaching them discipline, letting them cry a little over that toy they didn’t get the moment that they wanted it? Love isn’t easy and it’s not always pleasant. Truly loving your child means taking the hard way sometimes. The ironic thing about it is that it is so much more difficult for the parent. Not only does the parent have to say no, but they have to put up with the nagging and stay firm on their decision. They have to watch their child in temporary pain. It is so much harder on the parent to see their child struggle and know that they could take away the pain in a second by giving into instant gratification. Hence love leads parents to do stupid things, because they think relieving their child’s temporary pain is the best thing for them. Really, in the long run the child that learns patience, discipline, forgiveness, acceptance, long suffering, ect, is so much better off and ready to take on the challenges of the world. They have learned to work hard for the thing they want, and have developed self-confidence because they have been given opportunities to struggle and to overcome. They have more patience with others because they haven’t always received things in a moment’s notice. They are more accepting and loving towards others because they realize life is difficult for everyone at times. Having said that, at times a child might not believe that their parents love them because they’re not getting what they desire. But in the long run their eyes will be opened to the true and pure love their parents have for them. Children will come to respect their parents a great deal for giving them those opportunities to learn and grow. Children will be touched deeply when they realize that every time they hurt, their parents hurt more for their child’s sake. It will bring parent and child together in a way that no other love can. Real love isn’t without pain and hurt. It’s sticking together through the unpleasantness. And at the end of the journey there is so much trust, love, and respect. It binds them together. They are unbreakable.
Real love is what Christ offers to us daily. Sometimes what we’re going through causes us unspeakable pain and sadness. We can’t fathom that he could possibly love us because he allows us to feel such hurt. The funny thing is, he is doing what is best for us, and he suffers watching us suffer. He wants to take away our heart ache, but he knows we need the experience so we can grow and learn. One day we will drop to his feet and thank him for his unmeasureable love he has shown us. We will praise him for going through our pain with us, and not giving up on us by taking the easy way out and taking our hurt away instantly. We will thank him for allowing us to grow and develop. Sometimes our trials may feel unbearable and we wish that Christ would take them away for us, in that moment we need to be meek and teachable. We need to trust that the Lord has a plan for us and he is shaping us into the people that we can become. Each experience will be for our good and for our learning if we allow it to be. Just like children cannot grow when they are handed everything in life, we too cannot grow without struggles. I love my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and I am thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to overcome trials in my life. He never said it would be easy, but he said it would be worth it.
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