The Source of Strength in All Relationships
God wants his people be to known for love more than anything else. God is love; he loved us so much that he gave his only son to die for our sins. When you show others love it is a benefit not only to those you express love to, but also to yourself. Loving others is often the primary source of strength within any relationship.
Cleanse Your Negative Emotions
Love is very hard to give if you've never had it. However, it is important to have love in your heart. Bitterness, hate, disgust, contempt, and jealousy are all negative emotions. We know this, and the sooner you can cleanse yourself of these negative emotions the better. A perfect way to clean up these negative emotions immediately is to spend a moment thinking about what you are grateful for. A grateful heart cannot feel hate nor anger; it cannot feel frustrated or agitated; it cannot be jealous or bitter. Love can veil all of these things and when you have love in your heart, you will be able to express it more openly to others.
Love is an Action Word
The best way to find a friend is to be a friend. The same is true for love as well. The best way to receive love is to give love to others. Love is a verb as well as a noun; it is something that you have and something that you do. You must display love by expressing kindness, generosity, warmth, showing mercy, listening, comforting, and by having a heart for giving. All these things actions express love. You have an unlimited supply of these things stored up inside of you. All you have to do is call on them and decide that you want to show love.Love is something that you do for others, not for yourself. However, as I said above, both parties involved will benefit in the long run. In relationships, be it friends, family, or a significant other, love is essential to having a healthy connection. Your best moments together are often those spent in love. The people who are the happiest are those that spend time with loved ones and share great moments with the special people in their lives. When God sees his people showing love to each other it brings him great joy.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."- 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
Love Requires Effort and Work
Gary Chapman, the author of many books including The Five Love Languages has dedicated his life’s work towards teaching others about love. Get a copy of Gary Chapman's revolutionary book, The Five Love Languages, on Amazon (Affiliate Link). In his teachings he constantly mentions that love does not have to die as a relationship grows old. On the contrary, love is something that can be built continuously. If love seems so distant there is no longer a trace in your relationship, it can still be reborn. If you want love to be in your life and in the lives of those in your circle, then the same rules apply as in every other area that you want to be successful in. Learn what you need to fix, learn how to fix it, and the most important part is to apply what you know and grow. You must want to do something and actually do it in order to get any results in life, love is no different. If you want love in your relationship, then you have to take ACTION.
Without Love, Relationships Crumble
Some of the saddest stories I have ever come across are stories of love that was destroyed. Families, friends, marriages, relationships, all once built on great foundations were crumbled after a negative event or events. Arguments, differences, adultery and cheating, lying, hurtful words, these are all factors that have destroyed even the best of relationships. If you have experienced this kind of worldly sadness or have caused this pain to others then please remember there is something you can do both for yourself and for others. Forgive those that have hurt you. Forgiveness isn’t exactly letting them off the hook, but it absolutely will put your own pain at ease. God is a forgiving God, and this is the best example I can give you to mend your wounds.
If you are carrying around pain for years it will keep eating at you and make you feel miserable. It’s like storing strong acid in a container. Eventually the acid will eat through the container and destroy it. The same goes for humans. If you are storing up all of your pain, anger, and resentment towards other people, it will eat away at you and destroy you from the inside. To get this emotional acid out of your system you must forgive those who have wronged you. Forgiveness is a selfish act because its prime reason is to help you not others.
The common saying goes ”Forgive and Forget.” I disagree; I say forgive but don’t forget. Take every situation and learn from it. Use it as wisdom so you become smarter and more capable to handle a difficult situation in the future. Don’t call it a mistake, instead call it a painful learning experience, successful people have the ability to turn every life experience bad or good into something beneficial towards their lives. Forgive those that have hurt you and love your enemies.
If you have caused pain to someone or many people, you must seek forgiveness. Ask God for forgiveness first and take all your problems to him before you approach the person you want to reconcile with. Next, seek forgiveness from those that you have hurt, this allows the pain in both of your hearts to be healed and you are both free from the bondage that a falling-out can create.
Perhaps your relationship with that person might never be the same, it might be restored, or it might be gone forever. However, the pain will eventually subside and both of you will be set free. If you try to get forgiveness and the other party does not accept your apology and still holds anger towards you, please remember that God forgives all of us. Even Jesus, during his crucifixion, pleaded to God to forgive us for our sins. We can take a lot from the example of Jesus and how he lives his life.
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