(2 Corinthians 12:15 MSG) I'd be most happy to empty my pockets, even mortgage my life, for your good. So how does it happen that the more I love you, the less I'm loved?
Have you ever given of yourself for the good of someone else only to be taken for granted? I have and it hurts and if I am completely honest my first reaction is to pull back to keep from being hurt anymore but looking at Paul’s example it becomes clear that advice is of the flesh, not the spirit. Still to love a person like this requires that you yourself are healthy and strong mentally, emotionally, and spiritually because you will be tested and if you are not careful you will enable the very things in that person that causes you the most pain and the more you continue offering what you believe to be love the more pain they give in return and as Paul shows us even offering Christ-centered love is not a guarantee you will be loved in return. If that be the case then what is the answer? Know the source of this love you offer, is it from you or is from Christ living in you?
What does healthy love look like? Love is tough sometimes; there will be situations when it requires that you stop chasing and allow that person to make their own choice, even if it is wrong. Did the father stop the prodigal son from leaving? If he had he would have saved the son much pain and his inheritance would not have been squandered on the foolish but what is not immediately apparent is that these things were the cost of the lesson the son had to learn and no amount of talking from the father could have taken the place of this lesson for the son. Other times love will require that you sacrifice your own feelings for the good of another, as we see Paul do time and time again. Still there are other times, other situations, other people where love requires boundaries. Some are bent on tearing down what the Lord would build up and you will know these people by the leading of God’s Holy Spirit within you. Paul’s tone may suggest he dealt with this type of person as well when he refers to the “super-apostles” who apparently amazed the people with signs and wonders but did so at a cost to the people, possibly even for their own benefit. I have known people like this as well. They make a great first impression but the more you get to know them the more it cost you until you realize the best thing to do is set boundaries and move on.
Healthy living and giving of yourself so that you inspire others to be healthy requires great discipline and I know of no better example than what the Bible provides. Aside from salvation you can stumble your way through life, haphazardly and things may turn out okay but you will have spent much time and resources on the mediocre only to fall far short of the purpose that has been placed on you and within you but to be a life-long student of the Lord Jesus Christ and to be obedient as He guides is where it’s at.
(Psalms 17:5-6 NLT) My steps have stayed on Your path; I have not wavered from following You. I am praying to You because I know You will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray.
