barren trees and love

Yesterday I had a conversation with a friend. We were talking about some of the barren trees in our lives...about the people that God allows to come into our lives that are difficult. They push us to the limits of our human capabilities. Without God and His love, we would…hmmmm…what do I say here? We would say things we shouldn’t say, we would do things we shouldn’t do.

To speak for myself, sometimes these people say and do things, it seems, on purpose, to hurt me or those I love. I can easily become defensive and want to lash out. I am ashamed to admit I may spend some time planning what I might want to say or do. Thankfully, most of the time, before I act on that, I yield. God begins to work inside me and remind me that people usually act like that out of their brokenness. When I take the time to consider that, I can back up and try to look at them through God’s eyes. How does He want me to be with them?

One of the questions I have begun to ask myself is, “What would love do?” Don’t get me wrong…sometimes love is tough. Sometimes love needs to say hard things…set boundaries….say ‘no’. But, for me, those things can come from my sinfulness, not my ‘love’ for the other person. So the only way I can check myself is to ask “What would love do?” What is God asking me to do, how is He asking me to be with this person in this circumstance? Then, I need to act on that. It isn’t always what I want to do, but it is what I am asked to do. It doesn’t always work out either. It isn’t like “You do this and it will all turn out ok.” Hardly. But doing the right thing is still doing the right thing. I do it because it is the right thing, not to get a certain result.

Next time someone hurts you, try to step back and consider asking yourself the question, “What would love do?”. Then work towards that.

Peace,
Deb