LET LOVE BE SINCERE

The wind is blowing, the sun is out, and as if sent from heaven, a cold front is passing through the hot and humid lovely Houston. What a beautiful day to be outside, it is one of those “perfect days” if you will. People are smiling, drivers are rolling down their windows, and the scenery is just too good to allow the person who cut you off on the freeway ruin your day. I’ve been getting into the routine of driving to different coffee shops to do my studies and writing. Today wasn’t the exception! The only thing out of the norm was that it took me about an hour to find an empty spot, All the coffee shops were packed! But finally, I found this modern-vintage vibe doughnut place. I ordered a small caramel macchiato, which I’m sipping as I write today’s blog post. As accustomed, I spent some time reading scripture and writing down my thoughts before getting the work flowing. This led me to Romans 12:9 “Let love be sincere…”

 Yesterday somebody asked me, do you think love is conditional or unconditional? Before I tell you my response, take the time to ask yourself the same question. What do you think about love? Is it something we give? Is it something we receive? Can you comprehend it to its fullest? After a good pause I replied something along the lines of “While I believe the essence of love is unconditional, we humans are incapable of expressing it to its purest form… I honestly believe love in this world is conditional.” The topic of love is surely one I am passionate about! Great and horrible things have been done in the name of love. Songs have been created in the name of love, people who once were strangers have left their homes to be with each other in the name of love, and every now and then you will hear in the news that someone attempted suicide because their significant other harassed them in the name of love. However, what most interests me about love is that this one book attributes the mind behind creation, with love as one of his greatest qualities. The Bible straight-up says that God is love! (1 John 4:16). A couple of months ago -perhaps a year ago- I decided that if faith was going to be the pillar of my life, it would be better if I at least took the time to understand what I am choosing to have my faith on. This led me to a path that was pretty scary at first! If I am honest with you my friend, at some point throughout the journey I deeply questioned if God was as “loving” as others preached. Today I understand that there was nothing wrong with that. In fact, it is my constant questioning and willingness to find the answers for myself that have led me to have a better relationship with God. I want to encourage you to do the same thing! If something doesn’t resonate with you, ask why. Be someone who is constantly putting their brain to work… I believe personal growth starts with asking why. Anyway, after much writing, reading, and listening, there is this one idea that convinced me of why God is love but also why we humans can’t love unconditionally. In my writing  What if I am not enough I told you that feeling loved by God is an ongoing process for me, but that so far he always takes me back to the same words “For I so loved you Juan that I gave my only son, so you don’t perish, but have eternal life.” (Jhon 3:16). Because he first loved me his actions backed him up. It is very different for a husband to come home and say “Hey babe! Come downstairs, I brought you flowers because I love you” than to say “I love you babe, and later that day the wife finds a bouquet sitting on the counter. The first one hopes for his actions to be noticed, the second one acts and doesn’t worry about his actions being noticed. For the first one love feels like a give and take, for the second one love feels like something that flows within him. The first one brings flowers on special occasions, the second one brings flowers every day. The first one loves conditionally, the second one loves unconditionally. God’s love looks like the second husband. He loved you before you were even born… so he gave up his son. Ideally, I aspire to love like the second husband, but nothing can be further from reality. If I give you time and attention it is because at the least, I expect you to be cordial and respectful. If I didn’t know you, I wouldn’t stop at the mall and hug you just because… that kind of love doesn’t flow from me. We humans always expect something in return, and if you think otherwise, I want to say you are entitled to your opinion. Just remember next time when someone you care for does you wrong, there is no reason for you to be hurt… In the end, their actions don’t matter because your love doesn’t expect anything in return.

How can I allow love to be sincere if it is in my nature to do the opposite? I think this is one of those things that are out of reach but every day we should strive to get. When receiving the award for Best Actor in 2014, Matthew McConaughey said something that applies very well to this topic. “Every day, every week, every month every year of my life, my hero is always ten years away. I’m never going to be my hero, and that’s fine with me because it keeps me with somebody to keep on chasing.” Perfect love was only reached by Jesus, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t wake up every day and aim for it. That is where the magic happens my friend! let yourself be available to go to the war of loving people and give it your best. Most likely you won’t attain perfect love, but you will reach another treasure that if not as equal, it comes pretty close… you will learn how to be present.

If you noticed I am posting this on Tuesday. However, my posting day is usually Monday. What happened? Well, right when I was about to start writing the second paragraph of this post. The person sitting across from my table started jamming to a song that came on at the coffee shop. I sought her and I couldn’t help but smile and laugh. I shouted, that’s your vibe huh?? And that was the opening for a 4-hour conversation with her, my friend Mady, and I. It is really hard for me to let go of control, and more than one time I just wanted to stop the conversation and keep writing. Not because I wasn’t enjoying it, but because it was hard for me to sit still and just live the moment. I am glad I forced myself not to because we met one of the coolest people in the hot and humid lovely Houston. She impacted our lives, and I am sure we impacted hers… all it took was for Mady and I to say, “We are available to love.” The world didn’t end, and right in front of me, God showed me what sincere love looks like… to be present and available without expectations from the other. You go and try it today! maybe a great friendship can start, you may meet your future companion, or you may also be looked at as weird… who knows??? You won’t know until you say I AM AVAILABLE.

This one turned out to be a long post, but I hope it encourages you just as I did to me while I was writing it. Remember! If you feel like talking to someone shoot me an email (you can find it on the newsletter page). Life sometimes can be messy, but don’t let the setbacks distract you from your purpose… you are setting the foundations for how your life will look like in the future. As I always say! There is a man changing lives left and right, his name is Jesus, get to know him!!!