Love First.

It seems the theme for today was about love.  It was about loving those who hurt you and loving those and expecting nothing in return.  Yeshua's time on this earth is a perfect example of this kind of love.  At the Last Seder (Supper), He arose from His place and came to wash the disciples feet.  He washed their feet even though He knew that Judas was going to betray Him and Peter was going to deny Him.  He still washed.  Then He gave His life for people who hated Him.  He loved us all that much.

I think sometimes, when we have mountain-top experiences where we learn who we are, we have this sort of prideful expectation of how others should treat us.  When we finally figure it out....Oh, I'm worth it to You, Lord....we think everybody else needs to get that memo, too.  We have an easy time loving those who have the same mindset as we do and "love" us (more like treat us nicely) first, but when someone we know kinda gets in a mood, we do to.  "Um, excuse me, do you KNOW who I am?  I am a child of God.  I am His princess.  Didn't you get the memo?  You don't get to treat ME like that."

For some, like myself, it's actually an attempt to finally stand up for myself.  But it can turn into a demand for love from people who either can't or won't give it.  The root, course, is actually pride.

Why pride?  I mean, if you think about it, we're right.  We deserve good things. We deserve to be treated well by everyone and everyone MUST love us because we're daughters of the King.  Right?  Well, I don't think Yeshua said "When you get in a right relationship with Me, everyone will suddenly love you and you'll be best friends with everybody.  Don't worry, kid.  Loving your neighbor as yourself will be a cinch! You will have the perfect life with the perfect family."  I don't think so.  I think He said that people will hate us and try to kill us and we should love our enemy!  The Sermon on the Mount never included "Blessed are you who only love people who like you first" or "Blessed are you who are happy all the time".

Rule #1 about people: Not everyone sees in you what God sees in you.  In fact, MOST people don't.  If some do, they usually look at the outward gift or calling, and not necessarily who you are as a person.  And foolin' everyone with a fake smile don't cut it either.  Trust me, I've tried.  ;)

So, what do we do about this?  What do we do about people who yell at us or gossip about us?  What do we do about people who deny us and betray us?  We love them first.

I think about my best friend.  This is one of the many adventures you will probably hear about Dolly & Boris. Now, I tell this and laugh about it and tease, but at the time it was difficult for me (for him too, cause he had to deal with me, lol).  I've actually come out of this situation with a greater ability to love others and it's mainly due to Boris (even though he didn't know this until I told him today). :)

When I got back from the mountain-top experience, where everyone loved everyone (basically) and people were always nice and encouraging to me, I had grown so much in confidence about who I am to Yeshua.  It was like I was lying on this pillow of love, and then came back and fell on a bunch of rocks.  Not everyone was nice to me.  Some people said my experiences weren't real, or I was a bad example, or...I don't know, some weird stuff too.  Anyway, Boris and I had different experiences when we were apart.  He had Uruguay and I had IHOP.  We came back and it was like oil and vinegar for a while.  Basically...sucks.  lol.  He would say rude things and I would react in pride.  "I don't deserve that.  I'm a daughter of the King.  I'm your friend.  You don't get to talk to me like that."

What I came to realize, after a ton of prayer, was that we're all dust.  From dust we came and to dust we go.  We deserve nothing.  Yeshua gave His life for us because He loved us.  Who are we to demand love from another person like that?  I don't think Yeshua went up to the Pharisees and yelled, "HELLO?!?!?! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM??? LOVE ME NOW!"

Now, to all you ladies who struggle with self-esteem issues, this doesn't mean people get to walk all over you.  AT. ALL.  If it's abusive, get out.  Here's the solution that I find to be the more Biblical response.

Love them first.  Expect nothing in return.

I realized that when I demanded love, I got resistance.  When I loved first, I got so much love in return.  I didn't expect anything from anyone.  I just came into agreement with who the Lord said Boris was, and went from there.  This goes for family and friends and enemies too.  You will find that a kind word turns away wrath and loving those simply because Yeshua died for them and loves them opens up doors to receive love as well.  I have found that my friendship with Boris is the best it's ever been (although we have our moments, haha ;)).  Why?  Because I humbled myself before the Lord and laid down my life to serve and care for another person.  That is our greatest gift we can give one another.

Now, I'm not perfect at this by any stretch.  I just hope that this one story helps you with your relationships (family or not).  Now, I really want to point out that this is crucial in family life as well.  Just because they're family doesn't mean there's an automatic "love" button that turns on when you're in the room.  Families have problems and issues.  This is normal cause we're all different.  But to demand love from someone simply because they're related to you is also prideful.  It doesn't matter whether people are believers or not.  Many of Yeshua's siblings didn't get it about Him being God until after He rose.  Yeshua still loved them first.

So I encourage you to seek the Lord in areas where you have been demanding love from others where you shouldn't have been.  I'm going to keep searching this out for myself and asking the Lord how I can love those who don't love me.  :)   Let's do it together! Yay!  :D