That Ain't Love, Is It?

Is it just me or does it seem to be harder to love people when they don't recognize your love? I don't mean they have to love me in kind, but at least acknowledge it for what it is. Instead, people often taint the pure love we give with the stench of impure motives. They say things like:

• He must be showing me love so he can get in my pants.
• She must be showing me love so she can get something she wants.
• They must be showing me love because they feel guilty about something.

Well, maybe they are showing you love because they LOVE you!! Contrary to what popular culture says, love is not blind. So, Christian singles should not also be blind. As children of God, we should expect love and accept love and not stoop to trying to transform love from others into something other than love.

Having said that, we can be discerning. We don't have to fall for the next line or get sucked up by the manipulative games that people play. But we have to let go of our egos so that we can properly recognize love when it exists and properly handle it.

As givers of pure love, we need to insure that it is indeed pure and not tainted with our selfish and secrets motivations. Are we being nice to that person because that is the right thing to do or are we harboring hidden intentions? And when people question our motives, we have to love them past their suspicions. That is no easy task, but that comes along with our job descriptions as Christians.

In short, let's make up our minds (and our hearts) that we will love others at all costs and we will also recognize love when others are trying to share it with us. We will trust God enough that He will provide people in our lives that can give and receive love and thus, we will not be "overly" surpised when He comes through. Yes that person may be nice to you because he or she loves you. Maybe that is someone God sent to you to be a good friend or maybe even a romantic partner. We must caution ourselves to make sure we make the right call: friend or lover. But if we learn to put our trust in God into action, how can we go wrong?