Dear Heavenly Father,
I was a little puzzled by something a person shared with me. She hasn’t been dating her boyfriend very long, only a few weeks, and already he says that he loves her. When I cautioned her about moving too fast too soon, she became defensive and said she didn’t understand my point of view. “People are supposed to love one another, and you can’t help it when your emotions takeover.” It is common for teenagers to express a sentiment like hers, but as mature adults, we have to be ever mindful of how You have told us to conduct ourselves.
You tell us in Proverbs 4:23 to guard our hearts above all else. Therefore, we have no other choice but to realize that guarding our hearts is a chief responsibility. To guard is to watch what goes in and watch what comes out of our hearts. It is to be very discerning and careful about allowing our feelings to get behind the wheel and start driving the vehicle of our lives. Father, You have given us the capacity to feel deeply. You created us with the capacity to feel those love butterflies in our tummies, but as we mature, we must understand that there’s a difference between those feelings and what it means to express Your kind of love towards someone.
In 1Corinthians 13:4-7(NLT), You tell us a little bit about Your kind of love. This passage says, “4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” You have commanded every believer to love this way. You tell us in Ephesians 5:1(NLT), “Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.”
We owe Godliness to everyone. We must love every person with a Godly level of compassion, kindness, patience, and humility, but romantic love is different. When someone loves us in a wifey kind of way, they must demonstrate a willingness and capacity to love us the way Jesus Christ loves the church and gave his life for the church. As women, we must be careful because this Christ-kind of love is more than feelings. It is a commitment.
Love is too powerful of a reality to be summed up in a craving for physical affection. Please help us to see this clearly, Heavenly Father. Help us to be wise and to recognize when we are being pursued only because of the way we look, and not because of who we are. We are Your beloved daughters. Please teach us to carry ourselves in a way that is worthy of the inheritance You have given us through Christ. Please help us to discern when a man is presenting us with something that isn’t real. Help us to snap to our senses and recognize when “I love you” is too fast and too soon. We must have confidence that good things come to those who wait.
Thank You for opening our eyes to the reality of Your standard and truth. Thank You for our powerful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and for Your precious Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Too Fast, Too Soon”, written by K. Lizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2019. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.