L O V E

Now that the dust has settled and hoopla of Valentines Day has passed lets talk about being finding love and being loved more than just one day a year. I woke up on Valentines Day with joy this year. I was not sad or depressed that I would be spending the day alone and at school. But I was overwhelmed with a sense of joy knowing that SOON I would be spending this day with a man God created especially for me!! Now that joy did not happen over night as most things in life. During my daily devotion that day with the Lord he reminded me of some of the things that he has shown me over the years in relation to love and relationships and I am going to share them with you.

After breaking up with my boyfriend of three years I really begin to seek God's will for my life in the relationship department. This took me on a journey of self evaluation and rediscovery. I knew that I was not the woman I or God wanted me to be and therefore could not be the woman any man would needed to be. Let me admit that this was a hard thing for me to do because for me because it meant taking a long looking beyond the pretty in order to CORRECT the changes that God was showing me and ACCEPTING those thing that God created in me that made me special. Throughout this process my prayer was also that God would show me what it means to truly love and what it meant to be a wife and what I should expect from a man. The very first thing God revealed to me was that marriage was a foundation built by God and was very sacred and the foundation that everything else on the earth was built upon. He then begin to show me His will for his children. He showed me that He has always given his children the VERY BEST and that is what we should EXPECT in Life if we are His children.

The bible says that a MAN should love his WIFE as Christ loves the church. When I thought about this I was amazed because I know how much Christ loves the Church. Christ died for the church which is the ultimate showing of LOVE. Outside of my mother and my three older brothers I can not think of anyone that would lay down their life for me, but this is exactly what Christ did for the church. Immediately like any other time I'm talking with the Lord, doubt attempted to creep in and I asked myself "Keyvi is it really realistic to hold a MAN to that high of a standard?" And God immediately began to correct me and explain to me that the standard is really was not set high if a person is guided by the Spirit, but through natural eyes it would seem insurmountable. God began to show me in laymen's terms that this Love that a MAN should have for his wife is very achievable and we as women should not wish for it, but EXPECT it from a MAN. He revealed to me that Christ was MAN and that he displayed this LOVE EVERYDAY of his life. Christ NEVER LIED to the Church he was very truthful with them in loving way. Christ NEVER CHEATED on the Church in fact he was more FAITHFUL to the Church than the Church was to him. Christ NEVER PLAYED GAMES with the Church breaking hearts along the way, instead Christ came so that broken hearts could be mended. Christ ALWAYS FORGAVE the Church no matter what they did to him including putting Him to Death. Christ also PROVIDED for the Church and never allowed the Church to go without anything.

Therefore, if Christ displayed the true essence of a MAN and HUSBAND (Yes Christ was also MARRIED to the Church) than why is it that we as women (or men) are willing to accept less than the example set by Christ. Part of the reason is that we believe that if we tell a man (or woman) what we truly want they will leave us and the other part is that we have truly been tricked by the enemy into allowing ourselves to believe that there just are not that many GOOD MEN in the world anymore so we have to take what we can get. Ladies (and Gentlemen) I'm here to tell you that this could  not be farther from the truth. Ladies (and Gentlemen) if boy (or girl) (sorry he/she does not deserve the title of a man/woman) is willing to leave you because you know who you are in Christ and what Christ says you DESERVE than he is not God"s will for you and you should be the one running from him. Quit lowering your standards for someone that WILL NOT lower theirs for YOU!! One of the first and clearest signs to know if a man is God's will for you is to check and see who is doing the pursuing. The bible says that when A Man That FINDS a wife FINDS a Good Thing and receives favor from God. So Ladies if you are the one that's keeping the relationship afloat you might want to think twice about continuing in it because you are really out of order. The other most recognizable sign is if this person is not willing to commit to you and take you off the market. As I stated above, Christ is MARRIED and COMMITTED to the Church. From the moment he laid eyes on the Church He showed her and the world that she belonged to HIM. Jacob was slave to Laban foe 14 years just to marry the women he loved and thats the kind of commitment and devotion we should look for in a mate. And Ladies contrary to what we see on TV there ARE still GOOD MEN out there SEARCHING for a GOOD Woman, but you have to be patient and SEEK GOD in order for this man to FIND YOU and fellas you have to do the same. You have understand that if you are not in the right place at God's appointed time you WILL miss OUT and like Jacob you may have to wait another 7 years before you get another opportunity. Sit back be patient and let God do his job and stop trying to do it for him. It WILL get hard sometimes (trust me I know), but I have made up in my mind that I would rather spend my days alone and happy than with someone who is not God's will for me. I'm not saying don't date but be careful when you are doing so and more importantly stop giving up the milk to these boys that do not want to purchase the whole cow and fellas stop taking it when you know you have no intentions of making the purchase.

Seeking God is the first step to finding TRUE LOVE and the second is being WILLING to allow God to PRUNE and PREPARE you for that Special Someone that He has created just for YOU. You can not TRULY LOVE someone else until you have ALLOWED God to cleanse you of the PAST and show you how to LOVE YOURSELF!! And you WILL NEVER be able to set STANDARDS until you KNOW what you DESERVE!!

Until Next Time, Start Working on the YOU Beyond The Pretty and TRUE LOVE will follow!!