Don’t Chase a Feeling, cont.

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thanks for joining me today for our Coffee Hour! I’m so glad you returned for this series, Don’t Chase a Feeling, which we as women tend to do! Grab your coffee, a journal and your Strand of Faith because it’s my prayer that you will find some reasons to tie some knots in it and learn how to chase a characteristic instead of a feeling!

It’s been said by many a psychologist that feelings aren’t wrong or right; they just are. And I add to that, so don’t let them drive your emotional car…or else you’ll wind up in a wreck! Oh, to learn to chase a characteristic instead of being controlled by a feeling.

So besides chasing the feeling of control and the feeling of happiness, what other feelings do we tend to chase? How about the feeling of being in love? This is actually a God-given need. As a matter of fact, feeling loved and having someone to love is a God-given birthright. This piece is so big that once we understand it, it will bring amazing clarity, color and beauty to your puzzle of life. The easiest route to take is to explore how to chase being loving instead of chasing the feeling of being in love or loved.

Again, as I look back into my old trunk of junk, this was a huge piece that had to be unpacked because I began, from the get-go, to chase the feeling of love, and in all the wrong places! Not only was I looking for it in all the wrong places, but I didn’t have the right understanding of what love was/is!

Did you know that there are actually four types of love?  There’s the love that refers to friends, the love that refers to family and the love that refers to romantic/covenant love. And then there’s His love, what is referred to as agape love. Well, I don’t know about you, but I wanted the first three types of love but because of emotional, physical and sexual abuse, my understanding of love was all messed up. I just know I had to have love and wanted to give love.

The first mention of love in the Bible is found in Genesis and as I looked into the Hebrew definition of it, my pulse raced with excitement. I’m telling you, His basic instructions and love letters to us are found in this amazing book. Anyway, in this verse, God speaks and says, “This is how you can show your love to me…” and the Hebrew definition for that is: “Unfailing love, loyal love, devotion, kindness, often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship!”

For those of you who do already believe, there’s an amazing knot to tie into your string of faith found within this first definition. The covenant relationship that is spoken of here is the relationship of God and Jesus and us! So because He first loved us, we in turn can share this kind of love with others. We can be His mirrors. But that’s not all. Here is another knot in your string of faith: He considers us friends! We show our love to Him by giving out unfailing and loyal love.

Think about it like this: If you have a BFF, aren’t you protective of them? Do you consider yourself loyal to them? Do you see where that comes from? Because of His unfailing and loyal love in you, you can give it out to others; hence, the chase stops or is reversed because you no longer have to chase the feeling of love for love is within you and you are able to express this type of love which is the characteristic of being loving.

Sounds so simple, huh? We all know it’s not, but here’s something that may make it a bit easier.

I just read something this week in Caroline Barnett’s book: Willing to Walk on Water wherein she was talking about God’s love for us and how much we could accomplish if we really understood His love for us. If His love for us became our motivating factor for all that we attempt, can you imagine how different we would feel, act, live?

Try this little exercise from 1^st Corinthians 13:4-7: Every time you see the word “love,” exchange it for Abba, or God or Jesus, and tell me if that doesn’t sit in your heart a little deeper!

God is patient and kind. Abba is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. He does not demand His own way (He gives us the freedom of choosing His will). He is not irritable or irritated by me, and He keeps no record of being wronged (by me). He does not rejoice about injustice (of any kind, especially those that happen to me) but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. He NEVER gives up, never loses faith, has high hopes for me and endures through every circumstance with me!

Now it’s your turn!

We have so much more to uncover about this feeling of love and the characteristic of loving…

Join me next week for more of this profound subject, chasing being loved, or the characteristic of being loving!

Love,

Evinda