Love Me When I Least Deserve It

It has been one day and two nights now that Kent has been gone to Evanston, IL for a computer class.  I have to admit there are pros and cons to his absence. 

The pros are I seem to be able to get some major cleaning done when he is gone and spend some time out with friends, and enjoy some quiet time with the Lord.  These are things I do while he is here as well, but in his absence, at least I have something to keep me occupied.

The cons are it is hard for me to sleep at night without him being here.  I have to fight fear at night, being alone in the house by myself, and I miss his presence.  So I have to stand on that scripture in Psalms.

Psalms 34:4 (KJV)
I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

The first night is always the hardest.  I fell asleep at 3:30 a.m. on the couch while watching TV.

Last night I fell asleep on the couch while watching Love It or List It and missed the ending. So at 12:30 I arose and went upstairs to bed.  I actually slept pretty good the rest of the time, awakening around 5:30 a.m. as the garbage truck was making a lot of noise. I went back to sleep for approximately half an hour, and then got up, dressed, and went outside and got the recycle bins and garbage cans and brought them into the garage.  I then sat down on couch and had my devotions.

Afterwards, I got on the computer to look at my email, and from an email, landed in Pinterest online.  So I began looking at some quotes, and the one that particularly caught my eye was this:

Love me when I least deserve it because that is when I really need it.  Swedish Proverb

I look back on my life at a time I was out of the will of the Lord, trying to escape the pain of a broken heart, in search of healing and love through a relationship outside of God's will.  I ran from God because I thought I was unforgiveable, so I ran to man thinking that he would accept me.  But of course, like David said, that He would rather rely on the mercy of God than put his life in the hands of man.  Where the hand of man, the arm of flesh is, things certainly will be tainted with sin. It is only when we are in Christ, walking in the Spirit, that we find what we are looking for.

I have learned to love others at their worst because God loved me that way. 

Romans 5:8
 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

So if we are going to demonstrate the love of God, we must hate the sin, but love the sinner.  We have been mandated that if we see one of our brothers or sisters in sin, we are to help them get back on the right path.

Galatians 6:1
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer^[a] is overcome by some sin, you who are godly^[b] should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

We are to speak the truth in love to them.

Ephesians 4:15
Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.

We are to pray for them.

(1 John 5:16 KJV)  If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 

So if you see someone today trapped into a lifestyle of sin, love them enough to pray for them, confront them in love, and help them get back on track with the Lord.

Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Lamentations 3:22-24 (NLT)
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!^[a]
    His mercies never cease.
²³ Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance;
    therefore, I will hope in him!”