Something about Love...

Perhaps we're commanded to love precisely because we're so terrible at it; or maybe I'm the only one. There are certain things in life that tell you that you are not perfect, that you are actually really messed up, and that you need to be ok with it.
I'm convinced that one of the greatest examples of this is human relationships. I think that most people can see my shortcomings (although I don't really act like it or remember that it's true) and are fine with them; so why is it so hard for me to catch up?
I'm not sure what it is, call it something in my brain or something from my past, but I've got a certain instinct in my head that tells me to search for reasons to quit everything. It's like a have a quitters radar. Anyone with me on that? Well, as most of us have come to realize, any adult human being has to endure things that are difficult and press through those seasons which scream at you with all deliberate urgency to GET OUT NOW, WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

But here's the bottom line: Nobody's perfect (Sorry Jonathan, not in this lifetime). And even if I see something desirable that I hope to build my life around, what makes me think that it will happen instantaneously? Life and growth happen through a process, and God is really good at sanding down the rough edges and making us into the people He wants us to be; not on our timing but His. When something is hard, it doesn't mean that it isn't good for you, or that it isn't what God wants. On the contrary, it may be the best thing that ever happened to you. The problem (for me) comes when I start to kick and scream and wonder why I'm responding to the situation with high degrees of immaturity, and not the patient maturity that I wanted; the answer is of course that this is part of the way that God is building that maturity in me, and the sooner I realize what He's up to, the better off I'll be. If I can just accept the fact that I'm not all grown up yet and that my Heavenly Father (and most of my brothers and sisters who know me at all) can clearly see that, I'll be much happier.

Tough doesn't mean quit; quitting is an excuse to stay immature. May God give us all the strength to press in and press on into all that He has for us.

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,^c]"> ¹²^AE)"> to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,^d]"> to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴so that we may no longer be children,^AK)"> tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in^AL)"> deceitful schemes. ¹⁵Rather,^AM)"> speaking the truth in love, we are to^AN)"> grow up in every way into him who is^AO)"> the head, into Christ, ¹⁶^AP)"> from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."

Ephesians 4:11-16