LOVE, & Other Four Letter Words! Part 3 – Five Things To Watch Out For

She stepped toward the edge of the board.  Knees numb, legs jumping, she wondered how she would do this.  But something in her felt that she could only do this.  No quitting, no going back…it was as if the only choice was to dive in.  She had been training and practicing on how to swim for months.  She knew she could swim, but still the “what ifs” flooded her mind and the height quivered her heart – that first dive was simply scary to her.  And yet, she kept moving toward the edge of the board.

Love can be like that, you can plan for your life, do all you need to do to have healing from what hurts you and make yourself as ready as possible for your tomorrows, and when its time to move forward you are simply afraid. That’s okay as long as you learn when to move forward regardless, and when to wait.  If you do plan on diving in to the love pool that is (and yes that was a little corny =;-D, but stay with me), then here are some other four letter words to watch out for because many of us have confused these simple words with love.  And others have thought that we could replace real love with these words.  And for some it appears to work temporarily.  But fake solutions have a way of leaking and breaking apart in irreparable ways.  Let’s check out these words so that we know exactly what we are dealing with and can make adjustments for the best of life, and that includes a real, lasting love from God and the people God has appointed to love you.  These five things are a collection of some of the words I have gathered from my mother’s little life lessons. I give them to you in my own words, but she is the inspiration behind them. My mom is a warrior for real fighting for her health, fighting for her children and fighting for a 35 year marriage that is both exciting and miraculous.

1. LIKE is good.  Like means you are interesting and I want your attention.  I want to watch you and get to know you.  It can be a lovely start of things but it’s not love it’s just the beginning.
2. LUCK can be exciting at first.  Luck is “I bumped into you and happened upon your affection.”  It’s perfect for Mr. & Mrs. Right Now.  But there comes a point that some actions must be taken on purpose.  The entire relationship cannot continue with luck as the driving force or we run the risk of ending up with Lazy.
3. LAZY just is.  Lazy says, “this is who I am and who I will always be.  If this gets you, good, if not, oh well.”  Lazy is what it is: just know what you are dealing with and adjust your heart accordingly.  Change and progress are a part of God’s best life for you, but trying to build a life with a person that fights those things will be a constant uphill climb.  And building a life where you are always laboring to change people into something that they don’t even want to be is difficult and painful.  Adults only change when they want to or have to.  Either way you need God for that to last  and not Eloise “I’m-going-to-make-him-perfect ” Jones or Donald “I-can-fix-her” Smith.  And let’s not forget a major player in this four letter word game, lust.
4. LUST says, “you’re cute and sexy and I want you…your body…you…I just want you.”  Lust doesn’t settle down until it has what it wants.  And it has nothing to do with love.  This emotion runs high and can get us caught up and messed up if we don’t call it what it is and have an accountability team to tell us the truth about what we are facing.
5. LOVE says, “I lifetime you and I have the track record to prove it.  I endure for you, I am patient for you, I seek the best for you, I forever you.”  Love simply lasts and lasts and outlasts it all.  More and more it is easy for me to see just how God is LOVE.  He forevers me, He lifetimes me, He endures for me.  Just know that love is so much more than what they tell us in the movies…keep searching God, yourself and life until you give and receive the best of it.

We have one more post in our little love series so I’ll see you next week the Four Things to Look For When You Are Searching For An Outstanding Love.  This list comes from the expert of all experts, so don’t miss it. In the meantime; Live more, Love more!

MizJAI…rediscovering the heart of love again

Tagged as: love, of faith, relationship