How do people know that we love them?
So often when we love someone we just assume that the way we demonstrate love clearly communicates our love.
However . . . sometimes we find out that we are wrong.
Love is active. It is lived, demonstrated, given not just something we “hold” in our hearts. There’s an adage, “love is nothing until you give it away.”
While that isn’t completely true because love itself IS something. Yet there is truth in that the people we love must be able to “receive” it. Which means we have to work at giving it.
In the book of Ruth we see the way Ruth demonstrated her deep love for her mother-in-law. It wasn’t just what she “thought” but was instead what she “did.”
Thinking kind thoughts about her mother-in-law (Naomi) did not give love to her.
Contemplating the move from Moab to Israel did not give love to Naomi.
Meditating on the benefits of gleaning in the fields so that Naomi could survive did not
On the contrary in the story of Ruth/Naomi, there was another daughter-in-law (Orpah – and no, not Oprah) who initially said, “Hey, I’ll go with you back to your people!” When Naomi said, “Girls, you don’t have to do that” Orpah was like, “Whew! I’m outta here!” and off she went.
Is there someone in your life that you’ve been THINKING about how much you love them but perhaps showing them has not been at the top of your priority list?
What if today you SHOW love instead of just thinking, contemplating, and meditating on it?
1 Corinthians 16:14: “Do everything in love.”