Tag: the light blonde

lovers gonna love.

Published on by elizabethgwin2 Comments
This post is inspired by one of my new tanks from the light blonde shop. I am borderline obsessed with all these super cute tees and tanks hand-made by a fellow Jesus-loving lady. You absolutely must check it out!

Lovers gonna love. Haters gonna hate. Most of us prefer to be called lovers, although we are often tempted to behave as haters. It is so easy to be selfish, yet so difficult to be selfless. God knew when he created us that we would struggle to love others. The flesh innately knows how to hate, so we must depend on God to teach us to love.

“Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD.” – Psalm 32:10, ESV

God pours his spirit of love into our hearts when we accept Christ as our Savior. Don’t miss that. His perfect love POURS directly into our hearts… no filters, no rations, just pure love.

God promises to the Israelite captives in Babylon: “I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” – Isaiah 44:3b, ESV

Paul reminds the church: “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.” – Romans 5:5, ESV

This outpouring of love is available for us anytime and anywhere. Faith in God offers us a limitless supply of His perfect love, pure and holy, and all we must do is ask. His love is like a well that never runs dry and never quits providing.

“There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear … We love because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:18a-19, HCSB

God’s love is steadfast, as in, it is not subject to change. He promises us that his mercies will never run out, they will never expire, and He will renew them for us each and every morning. Yes! Every single morning.. not just Monday mornings.. and they are never-ending. I find great comfort in knowing that when I ‘run out’ of love, God can refill my tank and send me back on my way to do his work.

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” – Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV

We must remember that, as Christians, we are not only called to love those of OUR choosing, but to love everyone. Loving others takes on different forms in different situations. Sometimes we show love from afar with our prayers, sometimes we show love up close with our compassion, and sometimes we show love by not showing hate. Refraining from hating requires us to let go of our judgements and trying to look at the person as Jesus does. It is hardest for me when the other person is showing hatred to me or someone close to me; however, there is no “unless scenario” in the following passage. [Translation = we still are called to love!]

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen. And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother.” – 1 John 4:20-21, HCSB

Seriously, John? The beloved disciple did not pen this letter from a luxurious yacht on the Mediterranean. He had walked with Jesus in his earthly ministry and had survived the subsequent condemnation, repression, hatred, and violence shown to the known followers of Christ in those early days. He relocated to Ephesus after the Romans destroyed his church in Jerusalem around A.D. 70, where he most likely wrote this letter.

The man had every reason to hate! (I would have!) Instead, John looked to Christ for his strength of heart and source of love. Faith gave John the ability to look beyond all the haters and still be willing and able to trust God and His Word whole-heartedly.

Lovers gonna love. Haters gonna hate. Faith will do the same for us as it did for John when we focus our eyes on Jesus instead of our surroundings. Choose God. His love is PERFECT!

ESV = English Standard Version. HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible

guard your heart.

Published on by elizabethgwin4 Comments

Walls are everywhere. Every day, new ones are created while old ones are destroyed. The boundary concept, however, is not new; in creation, God corralled the sea with the land and Adam with the plentiful surroundings of the Garden of Eden.

“And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good … And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.”– Genesis 1:9-10, 2:8-9, ESV

Emotional walls. We all have them. We build them, and we tear them down. Though our circumstances will vary, our motive is always the same. FEAR, both rational and irrational, will drive us to quickly erect a Great Wall around our hearts in record-breaking time.

Some of us fear a broken heart or wounded pride. Others fear disappointment or discouragement. Either way, these emotions are as real as the pain that accompanies them. We always hear that we should guard our hearts, to keep them protected from such dangers, so we build emotional walls to protect ourselves. However, if you are anything like me, these protective measures have a rather low success rate.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” – Proverbs 4:23, HCSB

Throughout my dating life, I have striven to keep my heart guarded by building emotional walls around myself. Another heartbreak comes, I add another layer of fortification to my wall. The longer I live and the more pain I encounter, the thicker and taller my wall becomes. Soon your wall becomes so impassible that you are numb to all emotions in the world surrounding you. You struggle to feel joy and elation while still experiencing pain from each new addition to the fortification.

Can you relate?

This place of confusion and defeat, of despair and resentment, is exactly where I have landed in the past. We hear that we should guard our hearts. But what does that really mean? And what exactly are we guarding them from? And how will we ever find love with our hearts are locked up tight?

And then amidst my maze of questions and emotions, a thought hit me like lightning: It is not my job to build protective measures for my heart or to do the maintenance work on these walls. That is solely God’s job. He never asked me to do his job, nor am I able. God created boundaries to give us life abundantly.

I realized I had been trying to be the gatekeeper, the guard to my heart, instead of letting God do the work that only He can do! Hear the same passage from another translation:

“… Keep [my words] within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” – Proverbs 4: 21-23, ESV

Life. Healing. Yes please! When we allow God full access to our hearts, He will heal us and renew us in a miraculous way. ASK GOD TO GUARD YOUR HEART. ASK HIM TO LET BOUNTIFUL LIFE FLOW FROM IT.  He is willing and able. Behind God’s protective shield, we are free to be ourselves and enjoy life abundantly. We are made to abound in the confines of His merciful grace and unbounding love. This means we have a safe place to abide with zero judgement and unfailing and unlimited love. 

Ladies, building a wall is man’s work. Let’s leave it to God. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Check out http://www.thelightblonde.com/ to shop for the tee in the photo and lots of other super cute tops created to spread the gospel of love! 💗💗💗