Do you love me?

Have you ever heard a kid ask: "Do you love me?"

If they are asking you, you are stunned and a little hurt. Wondering, have I not demostrated my love to this him/her? If they are asking someone else, you think its so cute. Ok, I have to admit, these would be my reactions, not everyone is moved the same way. However, what if someone was in a way begging you for love? What if one day you find yourself hearing very clearly the cry of someone for love?

Sometimes we go around serving here, there, everywhere not realizing that there are people around us that feel like the woman who touched Jesus' hem. I am not trying in any way to say that we are Jesus, in any way Jesus or at all comparable to Jesus, but what I am trying to say is that those around us need not only to hear the Word of God but also feel/know the love of God. And while I know only God can give them true love, I believe we can make having a relationship with God vivid and desireable to those around them with how we treat them. For example, I know a brother in Christ who has grown close to my family and he and his wife at times come over to our home. We share many memories, but in these years of building a relationship, I have at times wanted to give God's Word to him and her, however, I noticed not to long ago, that while I was thinking on what to say, I had never even realized that I had never side-hugged my brother. I realized this once, when hugging some other brothers I suddenly was before him, and I had to ask him: Have I ever given you a hug? His response: no. Here I was wondering what I could share (Word of God) with him, and what I had forgotten to share was God's love.

Then, another example. Clearly did I hear a cry to be loved. My father once in a conversation said to me: "Nobody asks me how I am doing". How could I have missed it? How/What has kept me from loving my father? How can I be an example to my father of God's love, if I do not care enough to ask him this on occasion, and really care for him? Yes, this is something I need to work on, pray for me in regards to this.

Now, not to take away from the importance of all this, I need to say, that I personally unconsiously I think, categorize, specially certain males as not needing the extra attention, care, and love. In these scenarios I shared, my brother in Christ, is a tough looking, certain minded guy, while my father, well, a hard working father. However, this, obviously, does not entail that they do not yearn for love and care.

Think about this. As you go about your days, who have you forgotten to love. Its like 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 says:

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing