Humility equals love

Humility equals love. I believe humility is such a hard concept for many to grasp. It certainly is for me. It's hard to swallow your pride and exclaim to another person that you desire and long to have a loving relationship with them. It's especially hard when that person has already denied you. They have taken your heart and broken it slowly and painfully. So painfully that it seems they have personally ripped it from your chest, so that you would continue to feel the hole forever. Our desire through God should be to embrace humility...
to embrace it because living in humility is much easier than living with regret.

The regret we might have from broken relationships. Regret that is made worse by the continuous tearing inside of us each time we are denied the connection we long for. It takes a lot for an individual to pick themselves up and be willing to confront the relationships made so fragile and destructive through humanity's sin. It is so hard because we are so guarded by our emotions, so affected by our feelings of hate, envy, and spite. But it is simply not about our feelings, mending broken relationships is about humbling ourselves under the witness of God. At the end of the day, you are either going to have regret or you are going to look back on a season of life where you had incredible humility in order to fight for a relationship.

The apostle Paul instructs the followers of Jesus in Romans 12:18, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." As far as it depends on you! Meaning that whatever the circumstances, we are called to do everything in our power to be at peace with all of God's people. Paul tells us that it is our duty as Christ-followers to spread the love of the Lord on Earth. I know this. I know that this is possibly one of our most greatest duties as Christians. So why do I often forget this simple calling? I don't think I forget it, rather, I think my mind chooses to ignore when God is screaming in my ear "Lauren. Humble yourself. You are just as awful of a sinner than the person you are trying to reconcile with. You don't love me like you should. You are not more righteous than he/she. But, the good news is that you are made perfect in my image. Nothing could make you more beautiful or make me love you more than I have from the time I created you. As your father, I am proud of you." I hear the Lord telling me this and know that it is my duty to love others with all of myself because He first loved me.