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Definition of a LoverLyn Thompson, Pastoral Care, CTCA/Southwestern Regional Medical Center
Psalm 66:16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. Sex and sexuality are everywhere. We wholesale them in today's world. They're cheap commodities. We've definitely devalued them, a little like a mass surplus of chickens or pork rinds to a population satiated with food. You can find them as subject matter in most songs, movies, television, magazines, books, and advertisements for products from cosmetics to clothes, cars to cuisine. Look around; listen; read. We're mired in sex and sexuality. Nowadays, more than ever, sex is even being used to define who we are, how we see the world, what our rights are, what benefits we're entitled to and in some countries, whether we're fit to live or die, be slaves or free. And, ironically, in the context we've given them, sex and sexuality are dividing more than they unite. They're destroying more than they're creating. They're taking more than they're giving. They're perverting more than they're promising. Ask the eight-year-old girls in Cambodia who're stolen and sold into sex slavery or the children used and abused for sexual purposes the world over. Ask the people dying from AIDS due to sex run amuck. Ask the runaway kids selling their bodies on the streets. Ask the children in broken homes. Ask the adults whose lives have been ruined by it, either by pornography or engaging in sex other than as God intended. Sex isn't synonymous with love, no matter how much we want to believe it is. Sexuality doesn't necessarily bring real acceptance nor a guarantee that it'll be valued for long by the person it's offered to. Lovers these days are anything but loving ... users and abusers, yes, takers, yes, but lovers? Hardly ... and seldom. The Bible's definition of a lover is someone who is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered. A lover doesn't keep a record of wrongs or delight in evil. A lover rejoices in truth, protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, never fails. A lover is someone who seeks the greatest good for the object of his or her love ... and works to help that person reach his or her God-given potential. That's why Jesus is called the Lover of our souls. A true lover, He gave His life to pay for the wrongs we've done. He died that we might live. He let Himself be bound that we might be set free. He loved us before we ever loved Him. He loves us still, even when we reject Him. He loves us even though He knows every thought we think, every word we're about to say, every action we do ... and even though many of those thoughts, words and deeds grieve His heart deeply. He loves each of us intimately, numbering the hairs on our heads and collecting our tears in a bottle, writing our names on His palms and entering into the minutest details of our days. He says we're never out of His sight, never forgotten, never abandoned. He calls us His treasure, His inheritance, the object of His joy. He accepts us regardless of our background, ethnicity, shortcomings, personal hygiene, looks, performance, education, social status, capabilities or lack thereof. His love never fails. It knows no bounds. It doesn't seek His good but ours. He's long-suffering, putting up with the worst we can hand out. He never forces, but waits, calling to us, beckoning us, seeking to show us His love in myriad ways but wanting us to choose Him of our own free will. But He's also a mysterious Lover, a risky Lover, a dangerous Lover, leading us where we've never been before, showing us aspects of Himself and ourselves we've never imagined, revealing to us things "eye hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard," things that "haven't entered into the heart of man." He's a Lover with a plan, a purpose, a proposition to make us Rulers by His side over all He's created. He's a Lover who showers with gifts, yet He'll never crowd you so you're craving breathing space. He's an exciting Lover and yet One you can depend on. He makes you catch your breath, on one hand, with anticipation and the unexplained supernatural, and let it out, on the other, as He cradles you in His arms and holds you comfortingly to His chest when your world has bottomed out. He's a Lover who doesn't compare, who'll never toss you aside for someone trimmer, prettier, handsomer, fitter, smarter, brighter, more worthy, attractive or alluring. He's true in His love and to His promises. He whispers to your heart and has the answers and supply for all your needs. He's an eternal Lover, loving with an everlasting love.Why would you settle for less? Why would you want to? |
