Are You Really In Love?

I celebrated my 40th birthday yesterday, so today I got teased for wanting to take a nap after lunch today. And it never fails. I climb into my soft, cozy, pillow top bed, lay my head on my absolute favorite side sleeping pillow with the silk pillow case (silk keeps your hair from messing up when you sleep), and get all cozy in the covers when suddenly a bolt of lightning zaps my brain.

A thought.
I thought about how blessed I am. How blessed to be in love!

Another thought:
I thought about how much I absolutely love God.
I thought about how much I love specific people.

And a few additional thoughts:
I thought about how I love.
How complete it is.
How completely insane it can make me (wanting to live and love Jesus) with no other care in the world!
How it makes me crave time with Him.
How love makes me crave to be with those I love.

And blammo...I sat up, got out of bed, and headed for my laptop! I can't wait. I have to blog!

I realized in that twilight zone (time span between awake and sleep) that GENUINE love is about SURRENDER!

Love makes us surrender:

• our own agendas
  
• to share our time with someone else
• making sure we meet their needs
• taking time to talk/chat/pray in their presence
• love on them
• help them
• listen to them
• put our hearts on the line
• TAKE RISK to make the love we feel worthwhile
• risk that we might be hurt
• surrender to growth, maturity, and completeness

I'm not talking about superficial love. Superficial love is something here today and gone tomorrow, much like a passing fancy or a crush. The love I refer to when I say that love is totally about surrendering is a deep love. It is constant. It is a love unlike any other, so much in-fact that we will go to great lengths to sacrifice our personal agenda to show our love to them. Love is not out of obligation when it is the right kind of love.

The word surrender in dictionary.com is defined as:

–verb (used with object)

1.	to yield (something) to the possession or power of another; deliver up possession of on demand or under duress: to surrender the fort to the enemy; to surrender the stolen goods to the police.

2.	to give (oneself) up, as to the police.

3.	to give (oneself) up to some influence, course, emotion, etc.: He surrendered himself to a life of hardship.

4.	to give up, abandon, or relinquish (comfort, hope, etc.).

5.	to yield or resign (an office, privilege, etc.) in favor of another.

–verb (used without object)

6.	to give oneself up, as into the power of another; submit or yield.

So, if surrendering ourselves means we are giving ourselves up, committing to, or yielding to a choice, we are more than likely giving up our own selfish desires to focus and embrace those of another. When we are living for the Lord and His will then we have chosen to be surrendered in His love. Un-surrendered love is selfish love. That is when we are focused on our own personal agendas, focused more-so upon our own needs to the point that we can't see much past them in fear of being hurt or losing something. Self-served love is lonely love, because it is not shared with another and typically keeps us paralyzed from experiencing it with any others.

Surrendered love is not out of someone twisting our arm. In fact it is quite the opposite. If we are forced into love, we will only love while it the arm is twisted and causing pain. As soon as the obligation, the hurt, or the twisted arm forcing the love is gone, it will not remain. And that is not genuine love or genuine surrender of the heart. It was only given out of joyless obligation. When love is genuine is doesn't just disappear. It remains, takes root, grows, and strengthens. But it required surrender to get to that point.

A truly deep, undivided love, will cause us to surrender our hearts and risk something greater than what existed before the risk occurred. If love were not great, it just wouldn't be worth any risk. And if there was not any risk in deeply loving and trusting another, it would be easier for us to do. And easy love doesn't develop deep bonds, deep trust, deep faith. But as Christ showed us and we are taught, love IS worth the risk, because love IS how we surrender ourselves to love and serve others and surrender to the will of God with joy in our hearts.

To love IS to surrender. We just can't love without it. Just make sure you know who it is you surrender to! Once you surrender completely, you will know that you are truly in love for the right reason.

1 Corinthians 13:2-4 (New International Version)

²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^a]">[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.