SHEPHERD
TO SHEEP
UNCONDITIONAL
LOVE
(Rom 5:8) But God demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I am
so glad the Lord has brought you into my life.
My life has been immensely enriched by knowing you. There are qualities in your life that I am
lacking, and I am learning so much from watching you and being with you. I know the Lord has brought you into my life
at just the right time because I am being challenged to be a better person in
Christ. I seek to emulate your faith and
character and be the best I can be for my Lord.
I
know sometimes I’m flaky. But I can’t
thank you enough for overlooking my faults and loving me anyway. You believe the best in me and that
confidence brings out the best in me and assures me I am able to succeed in
life. I know you know how insecure I am
and how I try to put on a mask at times to cover it. But being around you disarms my fears and
lets me be myself. I can’t believe how
much I open up around you and even laugh spontaneously. I have had a tendency to restrain myself for
fear of being misunderstood but when you’re around I feel safe to just be
myself.
When
you love me unconditionally I feel Jesus’ love through you. I’ve always had this idea that the Lord loves
me but when I fail in my faith I have felt distant from God like He has changed
His mind about me. But when you keep
loving me through all my ups and downs and highs and lows I am restored in my
faith that God loves me no matter what.
This is a supreme gift that I have been granted through our relationship
and has served me to no end. Just to
feel loved by God at all times is so amazing and so healing. I’ve never known a love like this. I’ve always felt I’ve had to perform and
could never measure up to other’s expectations of me. Now I know it’s okay to be human and to love
Jesus at the same time.
I
also like how you correct me and hold me to the standard of God’s Word. I initially bristle but then realize you are
right and love me so much to challenge me to keep on the straight and narrow. You
never have a harsh word and what you say in loving rebuke is the velvet steel I
need when I am drifting off my course. Forgive
me when I have been overly sensitive about correction. I guess I just always want to be perfect and
get mad when I am reminded that I am not.
This pride is sinful but how great it is to have someone like you to
provide the context whereby I can own up to the fact that I’m not there yet and
stand in need of improvement.
Something
else is also changing about me. I not only
feel God’s unconditional love in my life, but I am also now giving it to
others. I used to hide so much in my
skin and wouldn’t reach out to others when I knew I needed to. They say there are sins of omission and
believe me I have committed many of these.
But because I feel loved I am also extending love like never
before. I used to be afraid of
involvement or that people would take me wrong so I held back to protect myself
from that. But now I don’t care. I feel good about who I am in Christ and this
is giving me the boldness to risk rejection and make new attempts at seeing how
I may be a blessing to others.
I
have always struggled with a tremendous sense of inadequacy. I have learned how to cover this by certain
techniques that I have developed and perfected.
But God’s love through Christ and the cross is stripping me down to who
I am. And you know what? It’s not so bad! In fact I feel more effective now in what I
do and am getting more feedback from others than I ever used to. So thank you for your unending and
unfailing love and how you accept me. I
feel so much closer to the Lord and I am giving to others this beautiful
gift!
Louie
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