{"id":101,"date":"2012-02-25T02:41:31","date_gmt":"2012-02-25T02:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihsteps.com\/wordpress\/?p=101"},"modified":"2012-02-25T02:41:31","modified_gmt":"2012-02-25T02:41:31","slug":"qfree-to-loveq-by-tammy-maseberg-february-24-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/?p=101","title":{"rendered":"“Free to Love” by Tammy Maseberg–February 24, 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFree at last, free at last. \u00a0Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.\u201d~~Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dr. King spoke those words in his \u201cI Have a Dream Speech\u201d on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., just 4\u00bd years before his untimely death. \u00a0It is one of the most widely recognized quotes in all of history. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Today, I was looking at the pictures in my office–of my three boys and my husband and others. \u00a0I became very aware of how I am free in Christ to love them and everyone in my life. In my head I have known that for many years. \u00a0But, I didn\u2019t completely get it in my heart. \u00a0I haven\u2019t always let<\/em> myself love like that because of old and wrong recordings in my head that I listened to.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, that kind of love is exactly what Jesus commands us to exhibit as His followers: \u201cA new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.\u201d \u00a0(John 13:34, NAS) <\/em>\u00a0We are fulfilling the law when we show people love, consideration, and respect. \u00a0\u201cOwe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.\u201d \u00a0(Romans 13:8, NAS)<\/em> \u00a0For me to be afraid of loving others, to withhold my feelings for people was really against what Christ teaches. \u00a0<\/p>\n

So, I had to pray and ask the Lord to forgive me and to please help me to love as He would have me to. \u00a0To love those around me according to His Word, not the words of the world which can be spoken behind a facade for selfishness and deceit. \u00a0I want His love to fill me up so much that when I interact with others, all that love cannot help but automatically flow out of the abundance in me.<\/p>\n

Imagine what the world would be like, or your own life, if we all loved others the way Christ loves us. \u00a0Not a love that says I will only love you \u201cwhen you look and talk like this or that\u201d or \u201cif you have the same opinions, interests, etc., that I do\u201d or \u00a0\u201cwhen you become the person I want you to be.\u201d \u00a0We honor God when when we show others the same love and respect that He gives us.<\/p>\n

But, how do we do this? \u00a0How do we love the way God does? \u00a0It is true that we cannot be infallible as He is. \u00a0We cannot possibly love in the perfectness that He displays. \u00a0As humans, I will dare to say that we don\u2019t even have the capacity to do so. \u00a0But, I also believe we can love beyond our perceptions when we see others through God\u2019s eyes and allow Him to love them through us. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Ask Him (I\u2019m speaking to myself here also) to show you how to demonstrate His love to others. \u00a0\u201cIf you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!\u201d \u00a0(Matthew 7:11, NAS)<\/em> \u00a0He is faithful, and He knows our hearts. \u00a0I believe He is very pleased to fulfill our requests when we ask for something that can only bring good to everyone around us and will draw people to Himself. \u00a0I want to surrender to Him daily to fill me up with His love and mercy to give out to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Lord–You have given me this gift of Your love to demonstrate to others whom I come into contact with each day. \u00a0It is Your love in me that I will pass on to others in my life–without fear.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blessings–be immersed in His love for you, Tammy<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a92012 Tammy Maseberg All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u201cFree at last, free at last. \u00a0Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.\u201d~~Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King spoke those words in his \u201cI Have a Dream Speech\u201d on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., just 4\u00bd years before his untimely death. \u00a0It is one of the most widely recognized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-word-from-tammy-maseberg","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}