Love

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as a frontal on your forehead. You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.” ~ Deuteronomy 6:4-9

This passage has been a long time favorite of mine. I really took to heart the concept of living every aspect of your life in accordance with the words of the Lord, and considered this a great passage to live by when parenting. I still think this is a great passage to live by, and it is still one of my favorite passages in scripture. Although I now approach the passage with an altered perspective, having spent the last 7 months as one of the primary care givers to 8 (now 9) beautiful girls.

It was easy to think of this passage as a great parenting passage when I was living on my own and responsible only for myself. Now that I have spent my days taking care of the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of these girls I realize that living out this passage isn’t as easy as I imagined.

It is hard to teach the children the words of the Lord. It is easy to tell the children about the commandments of the Lord, but teaching is hard. Teaching requires patience and setting the example. Telling only requires words. It is hard to teach the children to love the Lord “with all of your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” when I so often fail to love Him completely like that myself.

In 1 John 4:7-8 we are told “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Ouch! If I do not love I do not know God. How humbling that is! If I claim to love God with all of my heart, soul and might, I must also love my fellow man. Verse 20 says “If someone says ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” If I can’t even love the people I live with, how can I claim to love God?

I have been learning so much about what it is to love during my time in this home. I realize now more than I ever did how unloving I am. I can talk about the concept of unconditional Agape love until I am blue in the face, but living it out is not my expertise. God has started me on a humbling and incredibly beautiful journey of learning to love with His love. This is a magical journey, because in the process of learning how to truly love I am also embarking on a journey to truly know God.

So how can I teach the children to love God with all of their heart, soul, and mind when I am only beginning to understand how to love myself? Thankfully this isn’t about what I can do. God has brought these children into this home. He has a plan for their lives. He has them in His hands and is singing a song over them. They are His children and He will never leave or forsake them.