Love Wins, Mama

Tonight we will talk about it how Love Wins in our lives as mamas. 

Transcript

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Tonight we're going to talk about love wins and what does that look like in our homes and in our lives? Well we'll find out as we unpack it tonight on midlight. I was sitting in church last night and I was taking notes and I wrote down in the corner of my page the words love wins and I immediately knew I wanted to share that idea with you, mamas, because sometimes we can get very caught up in all of the things that are needed from us and all of the things that maybe even frustrate us or upset us or feel like they are unfair to us. And I thought, what if we just focused on this concept for a little bit? Love wins. And what does that look like? Well, according to Scripture, we can see a lot of things and a lot of places where God tells us that ultimately love wins. Of course, the most famous verses in the Bible that I know and have found is in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, and I'm going to start in verse 4. And it says, Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, it always trusts, it always hopes, it always perseveres. Love never fails. So right here in verse eight of 1 Corinthians 13, at the end of everything I just read, we read these words Love never fails. And I think when we focus on the fact that God's love for us is steadfast, it never changes, it's always there, and it never gives up on us. We can take that understanding of love and apply it to our families. Our love is steadfast because God's love in us is also steadfast. And it teaches us and it shows us how to be more like Him, which is what we're working on every day, isn't it, Mamas? Because this is this beautiful opportunity that God has given us as mamas to reflect His love to our families. When you are pouring out in the night your love to your children, whether it's feeding or rocking, praying, or just staying, it isn't wasted. It's the kind of love that actually wins like this. It's not flashy, it's not even Instagram perfect, but real, enduring, and rooted in the one who first loved us. As we pour out our lives in these practical ways to our babies and our families, it is the opportunity to show them that God's love doesn't fail, and neither does ours. Because we love our babies, we care for them. Because we love our families, we care for them, we walk in forgiveness, we walk in understanding of who they are and how God made them to be. As we look further into Scripture in Romans 8, 38 through 39, it says, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, mammas, not exhaustion, not hard nights, not our own sense of failure. Nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God. So in this case, does love win between you and God? It does. Does love win in the middle of the night as you're taking care of your babies and reflecting the love of Christ to your families, even the smallest of the family members? It does. And I love what it says in Song of Solomon eight, verses six through seven as well. It says, Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm, for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave, it burning like blazing fire like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one's house for love, it would be utterly scorned. This is so interesting because in this verse the speaker asks to be placed like a seal on the beloved's heart and arm. You see, in the ancient world, a seal was a mark of ownership, permanence, and intimacy, something you carried close and never removed. But then comes the famous comparison that love is as strong as death. Just as death is unstoppable and final, true love will not let go. And jealousy or passionate zeal in the next verse is as fierce as the grave, it is intense, exclusive, and will not share what it has claimed. And then the next one, the love itself is described as flashes of fire, even the very flame of the Lord. This is not ordinary emotion, it is pictured as a divine and consuming fire. In verse seven, this thought continues when he says, No amount of water or flood can put this love out, it is unquenchable, and it cannot be bought. Even if someone offered everything that they owned, in exchange for it, the offer would be rejected as worthless. Real love, it's not for sale. These two verses describe a love that is permanent and exclusive, stronger than death, passionate and fierce, unquenchable by any hardship and beyond price. You see, mamas, when I look at this verse, I can see God's love for us just like this. This is how God feels about us. It's also probably relatable to us as mamas and as wives. We are in a place of experiencing true love, like the love that God has for us and we have for Him. We are able to transfer and pour that understanding of love into our families. And I don't know about you, but I can't think of a greater gift to give. And what does it look like practically? It looks like showing up. It looks like doing the things that maybe sometimes we don't want to do. It looks like hard conversations at times. It looks like getting up and out of bed when you're nice and cozy and the baby needs you again. It looks like rocking a baby who isn't feeling well and holding them for a very long time so that your presence is near. You see, mamas, I'm starting to understand as I research the fact that love wins, that it's just this golden opportunity to reveal the love of Christ that He has for us to our families because we were loved first. Now we love because 1 John 4 19 tells us that. Exactly, it says, We love because he first loved us. Mamas, I hope this encourages you tonight to go on and love your families so well because now is the time to do it, and it is the opportunity that we have been given by God for this time and this season as mamas. Until next time, mamas, I'd like to leave you with a blessing from number six, twenty four through twenty six. May the Lord bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you, be gracious unto you, and give you peace. Amen. Until next time, mamas, just remember, love wins. Take care, mamas, and we will talk again soon.