The More Abundantly I Love, the Less I am Loved...

Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.—2 Corinthians 12:14-15

I know I have said this before in previous posts, but oh, how I want to have Paul’s heart for the people God has placed in my life!  Paul did not want to burden them with  his own cares...He trusted His God in all of those!  He did not seek his own, but sought the best for them in Christ.  Paul was jealous for his brethren with a godly jealously.  He loved the people God had placed in his life abundantly and demonstrated that love by pouring his very heart and life into theirs. The last part of verse 15 always brings tears to my eyes...the more he loved them the less he was loved.  Sadly, this is often the case. Even Christ who loved and does love us to the end of perfection and beyond, experienced the same. 

He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

4 Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.—Isaiah 53:3-5

Beloved, when you love as Christ loved, you will also experience, even from Christians, a lack of appreciation.  There will be people to whom you give much who will think it is their due and will even look for more.  Sometimes our very own children can be this way.   When it happens, remember that you are in good company.  Be obedient and be gracious...continue to love them as Christ loved you. The results are in Gods hands. 

Oh Father!

How hard it is to love this way... by Your Spirit help me 

—-To love others by being thankful for them in Your Son

—-To love others by putting their needs ahead of my own.  

—-To love them by praying for them and desiring for them Your best. 

—-To love them by seeing them only in the light of Your love and not for anything I       might be able to obtain from them. 

Cleanse my heart of “ME.”  Give me the desires of YOUR heart. Help me to see others...especially in my own family...not as a means to my own end, but as beloved by You, whose image they bear.  May I also look only to You for my reward so as not to be stumbled by another’s lack of thankfulness. May I be thankful always and in everything for this is Your will for me. 

Father, I can do all things which You have called me to do through Your Spirit who strengthens and empowers me to fulfill Your purpose. I am self sufficient in Your sufficiency. I am ready for anything through You, my Jesus, who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.