Hi everyone! Josie here!
There is such an art in having the ability to fill our relationships up with real love. I believe the only way to truly fill people with love and joy is to first fill ourselves up with the Word of God.
Try to see your relationships as if you were a cup. If your cup is empty, there is no more love to pour out for others. If your cup is overflowing, love is spilled onto everyone around you. You cannot properly love in any relationship without your cup being completely filled to the top. Now how do you make your cup overflow? I believe the Word of God will abundantly fill your cup.
The more time we spend reading and meditating on the Bible, the more God will fill us up. If we try to use our own earthly love, we will overwork ourselves until we have no more love to give.
God is the only source of love that will constantly fill us up and never drain our cups.
He will start to conform our minds to His way of thinking and give us the ability to see true love through His eyes. He will turn our selfishness into selflessness to pour out for others. Once we are filled up by God, we are able to apply His love to our relationships.
I love these three verses that show us how to fill others up:
1 Thessalonians 3:12 “And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.”
Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God‘s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
1 John 4:7-8 “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
I have seen in my own life how God works to fill me up and have my heart overflowing with love to pour out into my dating relationship and friendships. I see how spending quiet time praying and reading scripture is so crucial for me. I can confidently say that I am able to spread joy and excitement to the people around me through the living word of God.
When I am spiritually full, I have the urge to spread God’s love to my family, boyfriend, and friends. That’s the beauty of God’s love, it’s contagious. I want to encourage you to start your day off with scripture and quiet time with the Lord. He will begin to fill you up with His love for you to then fill others up with. God works in ways we will never be able to fully comprehend. Press into Him!
With love,
Josie (Harborside Chapel intern)
Photo by: Love and Covenant Photography
