No Greater Joy
What gives you the most joy? I am a mom, perhaps you are too. Maybe you are a grandparent, or even a sibling. Or none of these, but because you are human, you can still relate because we all have someone we love.
To not love, is to close ourselves from all feelings - including joy, pain, gratitude, loss, delight, hopes, and dreams. To love is to sacrifice. We can not have one without the other.
As a mother, that very first wonderful cry from your newborn, is the sweetest music to your weary soul. The pain we have just been through for the last nine months is all quickly forgotten. The sacrifice was worth it, just to hold, and see that beautiful, squiggly little face looking back at you.
As a parent, the first time your baby returns your smile (and no, that wasn't gas) - it fills your heart with joy! The sacrifice of sleepless nights are forgiven with that little one's down payment.
As a father, the day your little one repeats your name instead of mama's, puffs your daddy pride... So Big!
The value of your child's love grows faster than your bank account. There's nothing you wouldn't do for them. You would give them the world to keep them safe, to give them all the love you could possibly squeeze into that darling little cherub. If they draw a picture for you, it is as precious as the Mona Lisa to you. Every day is a gift to treasure, and learn together how to love deeper than ever dreamed possible. Every discovery they make, builds your parent gratification so wide and so high and so deep, the days of frustration and fleeting madness have no place in your being. That silly peanut butter smeared smile is worth it all.
When you love someone, you give your all, just to see them smile. Falling in love is so much fun, because nothing and no one else exists. No fear, no failure, no regrets. But to stay in love takes work. It takes hard work, tears, and sacrifice. Years and years of learning what makes them tick, and what makes them ticked off! It's like an adventure every day to see how much more you can learn about that someone and how to fall more in love than you ever thought possible.
But what if you kept it all a secret? What if you never told your loved one how much you really loved them, and never said "thank you just for being you"? Would they even think you cared?
Did you know God has feelings for you? He desires our love, he created us to love, after all.
In 1 Corinthians, He tells us to "Do everything in love."
If we are thankful for what God has done by loving us when we were unlovable, we love him in return. But love is a sacrifice. We must give something up, the meaning of sacrifice is to surrender something for the sake of something else. To love God, we must not love ourselves so much as to forget about what He has done for us.
We must give Him our heart. Even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts. He is the Healer of wounded souls. He is the Lover of our souls, and a lover always cares for their beloved. He gave us the world. Then He gave us His Son. He has no greater joy than for us to receive that gift with open arms.
What if your open arms are empty? What if you have lost your beloved, and your best friend? What if your lap has never held a little one, and maybe never will? What if you once held a child, only to be left with bittersweet memories now? The God who loves us is also the God who weeps with us. He understands.
So when all we have to offer is a tiny, ever so fragile, flicker of gratitude for the love we carry in our hearts, that is enough. It is a sacrifice of praise that wafts to the heavens and fills the halls of His kingdom and He knows.
"Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy." - Psalm 107:22
Gratitude IS a sacrifice.
Joy is not happiness.
Happiness is a feeling.
Feelings come and go.
Joy is a state of being.
Gratitude brings joy.
"2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2
Jesus endured the pain of the cross, knowing he has eternity to spend with His children. We can endure the pains of this world, we can hold the memories of those we love, knowing that we will be surrounding the throne of heaven forever with our loved ones. Never to be apart again. Love is the price we pay now. The sacrifice will be worth it all.
There is no greater joy!
Taken from stories of the journey of my life by: Sue Leerhoff Brick by Brick
As a mother, that very first wonderful cry from your newborn, is the sweetest music to your weary soul. The pain we have just been through for the last nine months is all quickly forgotten. The sacrifice was worth it, just to hold, and see that beautiful, squiggly little face looking back at you.
As a parent, the first time your baby returns your smile (and no, that wasn't gas) - it fills your heart with joy! The sacrifice of sleepless nights are forgiven with that little one's down payment.
As a father, the day your little one repeats your name instead of mama's, puffs your daddy pride... So Big!
The value of your child's love grows faster than your bank account. There's nothing you wouldn't do for them. You would give them the world to keep them safe, to give them all the love you could possibly squeeze into that darling little cherub. If they draw a picture for you, it is as precious as the Mona Lisa to you. Every day is a gift to treasure, and learn together how to love deeper than ever dreamed possible. Every discovery they make, builds your parent gratification so wide and so high and so deep, the days of frustration and fleeting madness have no place in your being. That silly peanut butter smeared smile is worth it all.
When you love someone, you give your all, just to see them smile. Falling in love is so much fun, because nothing and no one else exists. No fear, no failure, no regrets. But to stay in love takes work. It takes hard work, tears, and sacrifice. Years and years of learning what makes them tick, and what makes them ticked off! It's like an adventure every day to see how much more you can learn about that someone and how to fall more in love than you ever thought possible.
But what if you kept it all a secret? What if you never told your loved one how much you really loved them, and never said "thank you just for being you"? Would they even think you cared?
Did you know God has feelings for you? He desires our love, he created us to love, after all.
In 1 Corinthians, He tells us to "Do everything in love."
If we are thankful for what God has done by loving us when we were unlovable, we love him in return. But love is a sacrifice. We must give something up, the meaning of sacrifice is to surrender something for the sake of something else. To love God, we must not love ourselves so much as to forget about what He has done for us.
What if your open arms are empty? What if you have lost your beloved, and your best friend? What if your lap has never held a little one, and maybe never will? What if you once held a child, only to be left with bittersweet memories now? The God who loves us is also the God who weeps with us. He understands.
"Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of His works with songs of joy." - Psalm 107:22
Joy is not happiness.
Happiness is a feeling.
Feelings come and go.
Joy is a state of being.
Gratitude brings joy.
Jesus endured the pain of the cross, knowing he has eternity to spend with His children. We can endure the pains of this world, we can hold the memories of those we love, knowing that we will be surrounding the throne of heaven forever with our loved ones. Never to be apart again. Love is the price we pay now. The sacrifice will be worth it all.
There is no greater joy!
Taken from stories of the journey of my life by: Sue Leerhoff Brick by Brick
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