Last night was the beginning of the "Loving Well" series by Beth Moore. Even though this series was recorded in 2007, it was still relevant for us today.
Twenty-four women gathered together at the Girlfriend's Bible Study to hear a powerful message, which was spiced with bits of humor along the way, about loving ourselves, loving our God and loving others.
The key chapter Beth used was I John 4.
Her purpose for sharing this particular message was to encourage women to learn how to "step up to the next level and have a promotion in the school of love."
Some penetrating and hard questions were asked:
- Are we loving better than we did five years ago?
- Are we more open? More vulnerable?
- Are we getting more loving?
- Has there been a marked change, a marked transformation in the way we love?
- How are we loving?
She asked us to look inward and take time to truly think about these thought-provoking questions.
Often times, we don't want to think about ourselves, to evaluate ourselves because that seems self-centered. Is it really? I think not. We need to take the time to love ourselves before we can love others.
Out of our loving God well and ourselves well, comes a freedom and confidence to love others.
We cannot love others out of our own ability. Our ability to love well goes beyond what a human could do. God gives us the ability to endure in a persevering love.
The question is: are we loving more than we can, beyond our ability to do so?
Beth says that "more than any spiritual gifts, He manifests Himself through the way we love."
Two reasons were given as to why it's so critical to attend to love:
- Matthew 24:12 ...."hearts will grow cold." We are no longer shocked by our culture.
- 2 Timothy 3:2...."lovers of self." People will be characterized by self-love.
Loving people is always a risk. Relationship happens "down in the gut where you can get hurt." We will never to learn to love well without letting Him love us well.
Beth mentioned four groups of people we may be challenged to love:
- Joy - people who are a joy to love. Not much challenge here
- Testy - people who are difficult to love. They drive you crazy
- Foe - loving our enemies
- Far - loving the stranger who is not even on our radar
At the end of class, we recited together the four confessions of love, which we are to memorize:
- God is perfect love
- Nothing can separate me from God's perfect love
- God pours His perfect love into my imperfect heart
- Accessed (the three above), I can love anyone through anything
Through the week, we will journal the answers to some of the questions asked to us during session I.
Session 2 Beth will be sharing with us how God pours His perfect love into our imperfect heart from Romans 5:5.....
"....and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
Changing Hearts. Changing Lives. One Girlfriend at a Time.
