Photo by Lifestock
Flowers, balloons, hearts, candy…Yes, it’s February and all things Valentine’s Day. You can barely go anywhere right now without being bombarded with romantic cards and chocolate candy in heart shaped boxes. But what if you aren’t feeling all of this love?
What if your patience has been worn thin?
What if your kids’ arguing is about to drive you over the edge?
What if your spouse doesn’t handle something exactly the way you would like him to?
In times like these we may not always have the willpower to do or say the right thing. I’ve been there. Sometimes emotions are flying high and logical thinking is thrown out the door. I think we all have at some point.
So what do we do during these times?
There is a lesson that I have been reminded of several times and it’s one that I wish I would have just embraced the first time. It could have made things so much easier. What is this lesson? Situations work out so much better if I follow the directions God has given me in His Word. Yes, I know I’m supposed to and I always intend to, but sometimes I momentarily feel that I have a better way.
I am so thankful that our heavenly Father always waits for us with open arms and second chances because I always end up right back in his loving embrace.
1 Corinthians 13 tells me what love is and what it isn’t. It lays out exactly how I am supposed to treat the people who live with me and even the people who don’t but are very much a part of my blended family. So, how can I take 1 Corinthians 13 and apply these verses to love in my blended family?
Love is patient when my stepchild need to develop a relationship with me in his own time.
Love is kind when I am communicating with the family members in the other home.
Love does not envy my friend who has a seemingly picture perfect traditional family.
It is not arrogant or rude when I am treated unkindly or unfairly.
It does not insist on its own way when I am inconvenienced due to a scheduling conflict with the other household.
It is not irritable or resentful when blended family life is just plain hard.
It does not keep score of the wrongdoings of his/her spouse or hold the spouse’s past against him/her.
Love always looks for the best in the spouse, bio children, stepchildren, and biological parents even when things are not going smoothly and I am feeling unappreciated.
Love has hope for my marriage to be healthy and reflect the heart of God.
and never ever gives up because love will trust God always.
This kind of love does not come naturally. It is impossible for me to do this on my own. The beautiful part is that God knows and understands this. He willingly gives me His help. 1 John 4:7 says, “Beloved (dearly loved ones), let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” We can only love like this when we try to fully understand the depth of love God has for each of us.
Ephesians 3:17-19 “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Let’s become rooted in God’s love and fully embrace this love so that we can show love to others through the strength He will provide us with.
