Random journal entry from this summer...

Tuesday, July 1, 2003

I was reading from The Four Loves because I finally decided to finish those last few pages. I stopped for a moment to journal because of the profound part I came across. The book talks about Need-loves and Gift-loves, where in Need-love you love someone or something because you need it and Gift-love is unmotivated and undeserved love, like loving criminals or loving those who don't quite appeal to you. The book mentions how although Gift-love is the higher form of love, if received, we are insulted by it. How true! We want to be loved (I want to be loved). Yet I have said before that I want to be needed. I have also said I despise "pity" friends, which while that is different than Gift-love, it still says that I want people to love me BECAUSE of me, not DESPITE me. I am glad, however, that God loves me despite me, yet at times I act as though He should love me because of me.

We need to get over ourselves and quit thinking we're so loveable! Quite honestly, we're often very unloveable! We make stupid choices that hurt other people, or we just aren't "God's gift to the universe" like we sometimes think we are! I'm glad God loves me dispite myself, and I'm glad He allows us humans to have the capacity to love that way, as well. We're not always so good at it, but He has enabled us to do it. We need to put God's kind of love into action in every way possible.

Random enough? I think so. Maybe it made some sense anyway! Later.