Thursday, January 7, 2016

A Moment with Erin: When Loving is Hard

I met my friend Erin through the blogging world a few months ago. I love the heart of her blog, Life, Abundantly, and its namesake verse (John 10:10) is one of my favorites. Her words made me cry. They share such truth, and I thrilled to have her sharing them with us in this Moments guest post. What a beautiful reminder.

Loving is hard.
The world says it's not- or that it shouldn't be. But the Word came down and hung upon a tree and showed us that it is.

With thorns pressed into his skull, blood and water pouring from his wounds- dying a death for sins he never committed after living a life that HE never needed, the breath drained from his lungs and he went to the grave. He loved so hard, he loved the life right out of himself.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 Cor 13:4-8 

We want love to be easy. We want life to be easy. But it's not. And if perfection can hang upon a cross, crying out- then what for us?

We are called to love patiently, kindly, selflessly, softly, happily, slowly. But that's hard.

When your husband suddenly can't get out of the bed by himself anymore? When your baby hasn't slept in days? When your mama doesn't know your name? When your child walks away from all he was taught? When none of it is going like it was supposed to- like we were told and sold that it would?

The world says loving is easy, but the Word says it's not. But BEING loved? Well, that's the stuff. Being loved is light.

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. John 16:33 

There are so many promises made alive by that death being so brief. The dying He did was hard- but God. But God reached in, and roused Him up and made promises true and changed love forever. Being loved, He came back to life and defied the grave and fulfilled the promise.

The promise that even though loving will almost always have hard times, that our BEING loved is always true. 

Those promises that all came true because a life was laid down.

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 

Those days that you've just sat down for the first time for a meal, and they call for help to go to the toilet? Those moments when you just need a shower for the first time in 3 days, but there are fingers coming under the door and screams for Mommy through the house? Those days that she doesn't remember you, so you pretend to be the housekeeper so she won't be upset? Those days that you cook dinner and iron clothes and wash dishes for him, and he continues to just look right through you?

Love. Is. Hard.

But beloved: BE LOVED. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for your... {husband, sister, father, mother, friend, grandparent, child}. Grab that. Chant that. Own THAT.

Because while you are doing the hard loving- you are being loved so hard. Right to the grave and back. 

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17 

You have a God that loves you so much that He gave his ONLY son. He rejoices over you. He exults YOU with loud singing.

Loving is so hard. But BEING loved? That's the stuff.
Let's let his love quiet us today.

What beautiful words, full of so much truth and a reminder of just how much we are truly loved! You can follow along with Erin and Life, Abundantly on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest

Did you like this Moments post? Check out the others in the series. Interested in contributing as a Moments guest poster? Contact me here. I can't wait to hear your story!

Currently,
Kelsie

15 comments:

  1. Such a hard to read, but beautiful voice. I think we often forget that love is supposed to be a choice, therefore it's a choice we make daily and may be harder at times than others. Thank you for reminding us of this, but most importantly reminding us that we are loved!!

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    1. That is so true! Thanks for reading and sharing, Nina!

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    2. Thank you so much Nina! We all need this reminder... almost daily :)

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  2. Love is so hard! It's true once kids come there are so many demands it's easy to overlook your partner because of everything that needs to be done.

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    1. It is so so hard. We don't even have kids yet, and it can be hard sometimes. I'm so thankful for Erin's words!

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    2. Absolutely! We've just had #3 join our family along with our 9 and 11 year old girls whom I homeschool. There are many days that it just gets HARD. But He can always carry us through!

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  3. This is so beautifully written hard. "Being loved is light." Yes, yes, YES.

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  4. Very true. Thank you for posting this, definitely a topic that needs to be addressed but is usually not discussed. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is one of my favorite verses! Thank you for sharing this!

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  5. This post is so real!! Thanks so much for sharing.

    All the Best,
    Allison | www.LiveLifeWellBlog.com

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