Love Flows or It Goes
A few years back Kim and I were at a Christian concert in Memphis. Accompanying us was a couple who worked with us in Youth Ministry. At the concert, Kim and I sat together in the middle while the couple sat on both sides of us.
I guess it was a thing where guys sit together, and girls sit together. Well, the concert got under way, and it was great! Towards the end of the concert, the guest artist shared from his heart how love was the glue for binding relationships together. He even sang a song about it.
At the end of the song, we all stood and affirmed the artist’s “message of love.” All of a sudden and much to our surprise, the couple who was standing next to us leaped towards each other. Kim and I were knocked back into our seats. The couple embraced each other as if they were holding on for dear life! They held each other for a long, long time.
Although Kim and I were literally knocked off our feet, we rejoiced at the couple’s affirmation of love. You see, they had been married for many years; but for whatever reasons, they had grown apart. Nothing dramatic had happened. Just the pressures and struggles of life, in general, had taxed their relationship.
That night at the concert, the Holy Spirit did a remarkable work in their lives. It was if the Lord re-opened their eyes and allowed them to see each other in a “light” that had long since gone dim. It seemed that their love for each other was re-born. The moment of their embrace has been etched in my memory for years.
Over the years, I have learned great lessons about love. My mother and father were very loving parents and taught me well. Up until I was thirteen years old, life was pretty normal; but then, life suddenly changed. My father suddenly passed away from illness. Drastic changes really complicated my life from then on. Then when I was just 18 years old, another tragedy “blew me away” - the death of my mother. It was a time in my life when I really felt "alone."
Somehow, I made it through both incidents; but not unscathed. Bitterness and a harden heart were the emotional scars that I wore for many years. It wasn’t until I met Kim, my wife, did life begin to look bright again. Kim and I were both young when we married. A short time later, Kim gave her heart to the Lord. I didn’t.
During that first year of Kim’s “re-birth," love seemed to pour out from her life, wide-open. I really did not know how to handle it. Because of her prayers and God’s loving kindness, I finally realized the value of love and turned my life over to the Lord.
Since that time I’ve learned a lot about love. Three honest, sincere decisions in our life will greatly enhance our ability to love and be loved.
#1. We must decide to allow God to perform a miracle in our life - the gift of salvation. We must allow God time to re-establish our right relationship with Him and transform our lives according to His will. We must become vessels that will not shatter when God pours new life, love, and the power of His Spirit into our lives.
#2. We must decide to let the Holy Spirit heal our innermost being of our past hurts and sorrows. We must let God renew our minds, influence our aspirations, and improve our attitude about ourselves.
#3. We must decide to become life-long “disciples,” which in the ancient Greek language means “learner.” We can and must keep learning all that we can about love, and how it affects us and the lives of others. We do this by study and mediation of the Bible, intimate times with the Lord in prayer, and service within the Body of Christ.
Remember this concerning love, you can’t share that which you do not possess. The warmth and richness of love is felt only when it flows through our lives; in other words, when the "inflow source" of lasting love is unrestricted and the "outflow faucet" is not stopped up.
Salvation opens the "inflow source." The depth of our relationship with God determines how wide the value is opened. Trust and obedience to God’s will keep the "outflow faucet" flowing smoothly.
The couple in this story is a good example of how love flows in and out of our lives. For them, it flowed great in their early years of marriage; and then, slowly began to subside. That night at the concert, they both renewed their commitment to each other and the Lord. Suddenly, the love faucet was once again, opened wide!
The more we become flowing "vessels" of God’s love, the more we experience the greater dimensions of love everlasting. Remember, love flows…or it goes.
Determine to be a fountain and not a drain.
