You Wanted More

"Love is trusting, Love is honest, Love is not a hand that holds you down." Tonic You Wanted More

I was jamming out to this song the other day as I drove down the highway. A story paralleling this lyric came to mind. A friend of mine has a similar story. She is with a man that she contemplated marrying. "Contemplated" being past tense. He is unsupportive in her choice of profession. He is also verbally abusive. A lack of genuine care in her emotional welfare is present. Fortunately, she is a smart woman. She understands that love should not treat you in such a manner. It is not a hand that holds you down. What should love do?

Love will help keep us pure. The Father's love will help keep us focused on Him. God numbs the lust of the flesh. Before this year, the lust of the flesh was a non-stop war. Battles and skirmishes fought throughout the day. At the beginning of this year, I re-dedicated myself to God. Christian friendships were provided by God. The Bible has become my favorite book to read. I read in it as often as I can. This has sparked a growth of intimacy with God. Applying Christ's lessons that I might be more like him. The assaults have weakened and are now sporadic. The devil still tries to get me, but God protects me. Jesus protects my mind with his pureness. It is this pureness which I want in my relationship. A pureness of body, mind, and heart offered up to God. A relationship reflecting the pureness and beauty which Christ showed in his lifetime. I have danced along the line of the rules and laws too often in the past. The burn is painful. Physical intimacy(kissing, fondling, etc.) is a lure and a snare. Leads to a downfall. Those things, including sex, are for marriage. Keeping a relationship pure makes life easier and allows us to do God's Will easier. His voice is heard much louder as well!

"Love is not a hand that holds you down." This is epitomized here. We should never attempt to hold a loved one back form their dreams(those of a righteous nature). It is a part of who they ARE! The strangling of a person's dream is a tragedy. It is a lack of concern or care for who they are and who they want to be. This concern has struck home for me of late. The worry clouded my mind that a dear friend might be taken away due to a calling. I wrestled with this fear. No victor was found. I decided to give it to my Victor-God. Life has been clearer. Love does not hold people back. It allows them to be who God made them to be. I no longer possess the fear. I know God is good. He has a plan. His plan involves nothing but good things. Those good things are for His glory. God is an uplifter. WE could take some cues from Him.

Uplifter is a good way to start this paragraph. Uplift is to raise or elevate. The greedy self is in constant contention with an uplifting nature that God instills in us. Yet again, I came into a conflict of this nature the other day. My greed tried to outweigh my concern for others. Anger tried to blind me. This emotion used to give me fits. I used it to make others suffer, verbally. Due to this new conflict the other day, I gained hope. A friend's welfare outweighed the misperceived slight that I felt. A vow had been made before this misperceived slight had occurred. The emotional welfare of this person was of the highest priority. I never want to cause pain or the feeling of inferiority to their psyche. A step of progress has been made. God provides when we earnestly desire to be changed. My relationships have never been the best. God is changing that in and through me!

It is lovely how time and God changes us. I can't honestly say that I would have liked to have a female companion to challenge me. Intelligence was always a must in my book. The challenge thing might have gotten me probably, even just a couple months ago. God has worked on me. I'm priviledged to say so. The majority of men today would feel intimidated by a woman that challenged them to grow in any aspect. I'm glad to say that I no longer fall in that group. A challenge is needed and required. It keeps us sharp and in the game. A woman is not a trophy or just for looks. A constant companion for life is who she is. A woman after God's own heart. If shes after God's heart, you best believe she is going to make sure her man is after God's heart. Each half of this relationship should instigate growth towards Christlikeness. Towards areas we shy away from. To become better people all around. A relationship is a game of gentle nudges. A pushing across thresholds that we fear to cross alone. Humbleness is great in a woman, but please throw in a sprinkle of passion and a smidge of fiery challenge to go with it.

Our personal relationships are a direct reflection of how we treat Jesus and God in our lives. The closer and more intimate we are with God, I believe the closer and intimate we will be able to be with others. My relationships have radically changed over the last six months. God has been awesome. We must view all our relationships with Jesus eyes. They should reflect how we are with Him and how He lived. Our love should never be a restricting force. It should be an unleashing. An untapping of potential exploding forth. Love is a powerful force. It should be used for all thats positive, not for negative means!

kenny