When was your first love? When was it that you thought you couldn't live without that young man? For me I thought I fell in love when I was only 15. At 15 do we really know what love is, or are we in love with what we think love should be? As it turned out for me, I was in love with the idea of love. At 15 we want to believe when someone tells us they love us. We like getting stuffed animals, and hearing sweet words, we like the idea of being able to say,"He is my boyfriend". When we think we are in love, we begin to change, we lose all sense of what love really is, because at 15, we don't know what the love of a man really is. Its not until you are grown, its not until that real man comes into your life and sweeps you off your feet that you realize just what love is. Love is not a teenage, flirtsy, call me when ya get home kind of love. Its a love that sacrifices, its a love that is there when your at your worst and your best. On those days when your sick, and on those days when nothing seems to go right. Its those stay at home nights, its those little notes you find, its not having enough money to go to dinner, its realizing life doesn't not circle around you. Love is giving, not just taking. When I was a teenager I believed those stories of,"You would if you loved me", only to not love myself the next day. Being a teenager is so hard, girls and boys see so much that is not true, from television, to music, to video's. They hear stories from friends, they think life is all about being cool, having someone attached to your hip, and many do not find out its not until its too late. As women our pasts at times can come back to haunt us, we cannot forget those mistakes, those lies we believed that changed our lives forever. I am blessed to have a husband to who loves me, who sacrifices for me, who gives until he has nothing left to give. A teenage boy know nothing about love, love is not just a feeling. Love is a verb, love is action, its putting those words into your life, its sharing, and its not something that comes and goes. In marriage we have those good days and bad days, but the love never dies, it is there to stay, its not breaking up for another, its not leaving you while they go out and have a good time. My daughters did not listen to my wisdom and advice, just as I did not listen to my mother when she tried to tell me a boy was no good for me. I was so stubborn, and my choices did not bring blessings, but only heartache. The heartache of our teenage years sometimes takes us a lifetime to overcome. Its okay to say,"No", its okay to say,"I'm waiting", its okay to be yourself, to stand up, and be different! Being popular, being in the in crowd is not all its cracked up to be. Those friends soon leave, time changes and at times we feel as though we are left alone with the decisions we have made. I am here to tell you love happens, love comes, it comes when the Lord sends you the right young man who will love you as he loves no other. I am here to tell you the mistakes of your past are forgiven, you don't have to hold on to them any longer. When we have made the mistake we often feel as though there is no return, but there is. There is a Savior who is waiting for you, waiting to love you, to show you what real love is, to forgive you, and to change your life for the better. He is there to take the sting of your past away and fill it with a joy only He can give. There is no one who can complete you but Jesus Christ. You are a daughter of the King, you are precious in His sight, and you are special, for He gave His life for you. You don't have to hold on to the past anymore, let it go and let God heal all your hurts. Let Him wipe your tears away. Staying pure is a choice, it is a way of life, and it is the best choice to make. Don't ask your girlfriends who have a boy on their hip, but you ask women, women who have lived with hauntings of their pasts, lived with the hurts of those who said they loved you. Dare to be different, don't be afraid just to be you, and never give something of yourself your not ready to give. God meant for that to be special, to be with the one who will love you forever, the one He has sent to you. Love is a gift from our Lord, He is our example of what love is. We may not of all had the best examples of what a man is in our lives, our fathers may not have shared special moments with us teaching us about what a young man really is, what love really is. We so often come from broken homes, that it is hard to teach our children what real love is, but we can begin by teaching them about Jesus, we can be there for them, we can listen and not just talk. As women we need to stand, we need to teach our young girls how special they are, they need to hear I love you, they need to feel love and know that you are there. My daddy never told me he loved me until he was sick with his cancer. He told me just a few days before he died. I grew up knowing I was loved, but those words were not spoken in our home, so I made sure I told my children daily how much I loved them, whether they were loving me at the moment or not, they knew their mom loved them. Jesus is waiting for you to come to Him today, His arms have waiting for you for a long time now. He can take whatever you need to tell Him and He will forever show you love. You might be a woman now, a woman who has not forgiven herself for her past, a woman who has held so much in. You don't have to. Jesus is ready to set you free from the pain of your past, you just have to give it to Him. He will release all the chains that have been holding you down from really enjoying life. If you are a young girl who has made the wrong choices, its not too late to begin again. Today can be the day you learn to forgive and to learn to love yourself again. I always taught my children they didn't need a boy or a girl to make them feel special. They are special just who they are, just being them makes them special. If your a mom and your wondering about your daughter, don't let another day go by without speaking to them, without sharing with them. When we open our hearts they can see just how real we are. May we point our children to Christ, and teach them He is all they need, and may they be strong enough to follow Him and not their hearts, not their feelings, but gain strength from the Savior to lead them in the pure path of life. Jesus is our first love~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Timothy 5:22 "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure." Psalm 25:4-5 "Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day." Love is sweet when its the real thing, when we have waited on the one God has sent to us, with wisdom we cannot go wrong and Jesus will never lead us down a path that will hurt us, can you say that about one your with?
Saturday, November 21, 2009
first love
When was your first love? When was it that you thought you couldn't live without that young man? For me I thought I fell in love when I was only 15. At 15 do we really know what love is, or are we in love with what we think love should be? As it turned out for me, I was in love with the idea of love. At 15 we want to believe when someone tells us they love us. We like getting stuffed animals, and hearing sweet words, we like the idea of being able to say,"He is my boyfriend". When we think we are in love, we begin to change, we lose all sense of what love really is, because at 15, we don't know what the love of a man really is. Its not until you are grown, its not until that real man comes into your life and sweeps you off your feet that you realize just what love is. Love is not a teenage, flirtsy, call me when ya get home kind of love. Its a love that sacrifices, its a love that is there when your at your worst and your best. On those days when your sick, and on those days when nothing seems to go right. Its those stay at home nights, its those little notes you find, its not having enough money to go to dinner, its realizing life doesn't not circle around you. Love is giving, not just taking. When I was a teenager I believed those stories of,"You would if you loved me", only to not love myself the next day. Being a teenager is so hard, girls and boys see so much that is not true, from television, to music, to video's. They hear stories from friends, they think life is all about being cool, having someone attached to your hip, and many do not find out its not until its too late. As women our pasts at times can come back to haunt us, we cannot forget those mistakes, those lies we believed that changed our lives forever. I am blessed to have a husband to who loves me, who sacrifices for me, who gives until he has nothing left to give. A teenage boy know nothing about love, love is not just a feeling. Love is a verb, love is action, its putting those words into your life, its sharing, and its not something that comes and goes. In marriage we have those good days and bad days, but the love never dies, it is there to stay, its not breaking up for another, its not leaving you while they go out and have a good time. My daughters did not listen to my wisdom and advice, just as I did not listen to my mother when she tried to tell me a boy was no good for me. I was so stubborn, and my choices did not bring blessings, but only heartache. The heartache of our teenage years sometimes takes us a lifetime to overcome. Its okay to say,"No", its okay to say,"I'm waiting", its okay to be yourself, to stand up, and be different! Being popular, being in the in crowd is not all its cracked up to be. Those friends soon leave, time changes and at times we feel as though we are left alone with the decisions we have made. I am here to tell you love happens, love comes, it comes when the Lord sends you the right young man who will love you as he loves no other. I am here to tell you the mistakes of your past are forgiven, you don't have to hold on to them any longer. When we have made the mistake we often feel as though there is no return, but there is. There is a Savior who is waiting for you, waiting to love you, to show you what real love is, to forgive you, and to change your life for the better. He is there to take the sting of your past away and fill it with a joy only He can give. There is no one who can complete you but Jesus Christ. You are a daughter of the King, you are precious in His sight, and you are special, for He gave His life for you. You don't have to hold on to the past anymore, let it go and let God heal all your hurts. Let Him wipe your tears away. Staying pure is a choice, it is a way of life, and it is the best choice to make. Don't ask your girlfriends who have a boy on their hip, but you ask women, women who have lived with hauntings of their pasts, lived with the hurts of those who said they loved you. Dare to be different, don't be afraid just to be you, and never give something of yourself your not ready to give. God meant for that to be special, to be with the one who will love you forever, the one He has sent to you. Love is a gift from our Lord, He is our example of what love is. We may not of all had the best examples of what a man is in our lives, our fathers may not have shared special moments with us teaching us about what a young man really is, what love really is. We so often come from broken homes, that it is hard to teach our children what real love is, but we can begin by teaching them about Jesus, we can be there for them, we can listen and not just talk. As women we need to stand, we need to teach our young girls how special they are, they need to hear I love you, they need to feel love and know that you are there. My daddy never told me he loved me until he was sick with his cancer. He told me just a few days before he died. I grew up knowing I was loved, but those words were not spoken in our home, so I made sure I told my children daily how much I loved them, whether they were loving me at the moment or not, they knew their mom loved them. Jesus is waiting for you to come to Him today, His arms have waiting for you for a long time now. He can take whatever you need to tell Him and He will forever show you love. You might be a woman now, a woman who has not forgiven herself for her past, a woman who has held so much in. You don't have to. Jesus is ready to set you free from the pain of your past, you just have to give it to Him. He will release all the chains that have been holding you down from really enjoying life. If you are a young girl who has made the wrong choices, its not too late to begin again. Today can be the day you learn to forgive and to learn to love yourself again. I always taught my children they didn't need a boy or a girl to make them feel special. They are special just who they are, just being them makes them special. If your a mom and your wondering about your daughter, don't let another day go by without speaking to them, without sharing with them. When we open our hearts they can see just how real we are. May we point our children to Christ, and teach them He is all they need, and may they be strong enough to follow Him and not their hearts, not their feelings, but gain strength from the Savior to lead them in the pure path of life. Jesus is our first love~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Timothy 5:22 "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure." Psalm 25:4-5 "Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day." Love is sweet when its the real thing, when we have waited on the one God has sent to us, with wisdom we cannot go wrong and Jesus will never lead us down a path that will hurt us, can you say that about one your with?
