LOVE MUST BE NURTURED

1Thessalonians 3:12 KJV And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you.

Dear Believer,

You must recognize that one of the greatest gifts the Lord has given you are the people around you: friends, family, believing brethren and people who make life easier and more colorful for you.

We look at these people and love them. The husband loves his wife, and the wife loves the husband. The children love their parents and a friend loves his friend.

However, we don’t always like each other. Sometimes the ones you love hurt you the most. Love makes us vulnerable, and when we get offended, love cools down.

Thus, a wife may start to lose the feelings of affection she has for her husband. A husband may start to disconnect emotionally from his wife. Children may be merely tolerating their parents. Love generally stops growing in us and we become rather mechanical in our relationships.

Friend, the Lord made me see that love is a living thing. If you don’t feed it and take care of it, it weakens and dies.

We may have love by nature, but we must grow it by nurture. Our love for God, for our family, friends and others must be strengthened, lest it dies.

One way to do this is to examine what we used to do that sustained our love, and start doing them again.

In some families, eating together bonded them. During meal time they discussed and laughed and shared. That has stopped, and they have started drifting apart.

For others, the relationship became frosty when they stopped praying together. Some beautiful relationships weakened because the showing of affection became one sided. Someone stopped investing time or emotion, and things cooled off.

Those little kisses, touches of affection and expressions of appreciation reduced, and love became starved and weakened. Or there’s more focus on the challenges of life than the love of your people. Then relationships become strained and forced.

One of the signs of the end times is spelled out by Jesus thus:

Matthew 24:12 NET
And because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold.

Paul says in 2Timothy that in the end times, people would become “without natural affection,”or “unloving,” as another version puts it.

The devil is succeeding at damaging relationships now. People are getting offended easily. It is even surprising that many Christians claim they don’t have friends and are proud of it.

A pandemic has worsened this situation, and people are even getting afraid of coming together.

One of the ways God strengthens his people emotionally is through great friendships. Reach out to love. Let the Spirit of God lead you into relationships that will benefit you and other people. Forgive those who offended you. If someone took your affection for granted in the past, it is their loss. Many people are out there who will appreciate you.

In relationships, we are taught by the Lord:

Rome 12:9-10 NET
Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another.

May you experience true love all around, and may the love of God touch others through you in the name of Jesus.

Have a lovely day.

Amen.

Your friend,
Deon.