“Watch what God does, and then do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious, but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something, but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”
Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG
Wow! There is so much to learn from this scripture…
If you are one of my single friends, please don’t check out yet. Although the story I share below pertains to marriage, there is something in this for you too. Extravagant love applies to every relationship, friendships included. We see the definition of love, sacrifice and service through this verse and the life of Jesus.
At the beginning of my relationship with my husband I would have special days like Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, and vacations planned out in my mind. I had all these romantic ideas about how the day would go, and I expected them to play out just how I had imagined. As you can imagine, figuring my husband was not a mind reader, I often found myself disappointed. I somehow was shocked that he didn’t get the memo I had sent him over brain waves.
A year after we had our first child we went on our first weekend getaway without her. It was just him and I, and I had the whole romantic weekend planned out in my mind. I remember sitting on the balcony of our hotel room having my quiet time the first morning of our trip, and God led me to this verse in the Message translation. He spoke right to my expectations and called me to lay them all down and just love my husband extravagantly, without expecting anything in return. That trip turned out to be one of my favorites of all time. We had so much fun together and truly enjoyed each other’s company.
Maybe you are like me and have something special for Valentine’s Day planned out in your mind. Might I challenge you to lay down your expectations, and love like Christ? Don’t be cautious. Go all out in love—love extravagantly, but don’t expect anything in return. Love not to get something, but give yourself fully.
Do what God does…love extravagantly.
Love Extravagantly
Hope Unswervingly
Trust God
Beautiful!
This reminds me of our vacation 2 summers ago. I usually try to plan these things down to every minute and every stop, but not this one. We knew our time frame, starting point and end point (which was home of course). I said let’s do this vaca like none before. No expectations at all. Let’s just enjoy our time, love being with each other and go when and where we wanted. We never even looked up hotels until we got to a town. This was the BEST vacation we ever had! So, the planning and ideas are a waste of energy. It is all about the love and quality of the time and event that matters. Thanks for sharing and causing me to reflect! My day is brighter because of you.
Thanks for sharing that Karen! Good to remember! 🙂