With All of That Water Flowing, Why Not Enjoy It and Share It?
I just looked up the definition of “lavished” at www.dictionary.com. The definition I found was as follows: “to spend or give in great amounts or without limits.” The word “lavished” is fun for me to say and to ponder. One common thread in our comparisons of relationships, racial harmony or disharmony, and marriage intimacy or lack of it (aloneness) is the presence or absence of the love of God. Wait a minute! There is no lack of love from God. He is love! (i John 3:1, 4: 7)
If there is no lack of love because God is lavishing His unconditional love on us, then why don’t we live loved and give love freely, all the time, starting at home? (That is the mission of BIM). I heard a song recently and will link to it at the end of the article: David Wilcox’s “Break in the Cup”. In this song he describes the foundational reason why there is such a general lack of harmony, love, and kindness in the areas we are exploring: relationships in general, between races and religions, and in marriage.
Instead of being containers of the love of God which is lavished on us, we leak. That’s what I said, “We leak”. There is a break in the cup (emotional capacity) of each person which keeps leaking out the love given to us, so that we always want and need more love. The subsequent bad behavior in trying to demand love from others is not excused, but it can be explained.
Several years ago I was friends with a guy who was developing some land for a country retreat, complete with a stocked pond. In his attempts to get the pond finished, he discovered that the ground at the bottom of the pond was not holding water. He finally had to seal the pond with a white clay. He was pretty frustrated by having to spend all the time and money to seal the pond. It was harder than he thought. I know that our Father wants our hearts sealed so that His love becomes stable and available for others to enjoy a relationship with us.
When we, as God’s creation, built to love and be loved, operate from our sin nature, we want what we want when we want it rather than putting the needs of others first and looking out for the well-being of others before our own comfort. As parents, most of us do a pretty good job of selfless living toward our children. Why, then, in marriage do we tend to revert back to the immaturity of a spoiled child, who is more interested in being in control than allowing for God’s control, putting others before ourselves, as Jesus did?
Our heart has a break in it. That break can be healed and sealed by Holy Spirit, Who lives in us, producing love that puts others first and maturely waits to receive from others, in God’s time. To seal the break in our heart means to not only come to trust Jesus to forgive our sin, but also to heal our broken heart through confession and forgiveness, coming to believe we are loved and forgiven.