THE OTHER SIDE OF LOVE II

In this world of make believe, make easy, robots, the synthetic or artificial, imitating this and that and of recent the hybrid etc. we may raise a generation of people who may never know that a natural rose comes with thorns, and that means they will not be aware of the other side of rose (love).
Rather than seek God to understand why He designed the rose with thorns and gave man such a universal acceptance of it as a symbol of love. Some of us even try to justify our parochial view and ignorantly debase this precious gift – love.

Rose plant, from where we get rose flower has thorns, even though I have never seen thorns in the roses love birds carry, the point is that, if rose plants do not have thorns on it, it is only a resemblance and not a rose plant. This other side of love is what makes it durable, strong and real. If all we know is the good side of love, we will continue to throe it out of the window any day it shows up its other side. Love is like the truth, sometimes it soothes, and sometimes it hurts. Love is sacrificial but also pleasing to God.

The other side of love is the one that always require some spoonful of foolishness, brief blindness and choosing to be trampled upon. Lord Dewar says ‘love is an ocean of emotion entirely surrounded by expenses.’ It is in the other side of love, we find the price tag and this is very expensive. If we will get the best of love, we must know how to handle the other side. If you are waiting to love a perfect person, you will always be wounded and disappointed. Sam Keen said, ‘ you come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.’

The popular side of love is the giving side, true love gives, the other side of love is the forgiving, the one that accepts the other person in his/her mess, the one that says sorry even when he is right, the one that endures, accept insult and bear been misunderstood. We can measure the amount of love you have for a person by how readily you can forgive the person, the more the love the easier it is to forgive. It takes love to cover multitude of offence or evil, men will do to you.

“Hatred stirs up contentions, but love covers all transgressions.” (Proverbs 10:12)
And
“Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one anther, for love covers a multitude of sins-forgives and disregards the offences of others.” (1 Peter 4:8)
Where love is thick, faults are thin. “Love doesn’t makes the world go round, it is what makes the ride worthwhile.” Franklin P.Jones
Love is a sacrifice that is well pleasing to God but because of the thorns many are scared, that is not to deny the fact that many have been hurt. Bear in mind that Christ did not die for us while we were saints but while we were yet in sin. Don’t love the saints only, love the sinner but hate his sin.

“Well then, are we superior and better of than they? No, not at all. We have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin- held down by and subjected to its power and control. As it is written, none is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no, not one. No one understands-no one intelligently discerns or comprehends; no one seeks out God. All have turn aside; together they have gone wrong and have become unprofitable and worthless; no one does right, not even one! Their throat is a yawning grave; they use their tongues to deceive-to mislead and to deal treacherously. The venom of asps is beneath their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery mark their ways. And they have no experience of the way of peace-they know nothing about peace, for a peaceful way they do not even recognize. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:9-18)

Apostle Lawrence Achudume
The General Overseer of Victory Life Bible Church Int'l
With branches spread across the globe
Can be reached on victory2life@yahoo.com
This message can be reproduced but must be duely credited.