"You Complete Me"
Dear Friends,
At this time of year, many people's thoughts turn to love and Valentine's Day. For some, it's a day to look forward to as they look for ways to express love to someone they care about and as they wait to receive expressions of love in return. For others, it can be a painful reminder of love lost or feeling that they have no-one who loves them as they desire to be loved.
Each one of us longs to be loved and accepted. We were made for relationships. We can experience many forms of love, whether it's the love of parents for a child (and vice versa), love between siblings, love of a good friend, love between girlfriend and boyfriend, or husband and wife etc.
As much as we can receive and give love within these relationships, no one person was ever meant to meet all our needs. One person cannot totally satisfy our need to be loved and accepted. If we look for that person to do so, they will end up frustrated that they are not able to be all that we need them to be, and we will end up disappointed and disillusioned.
As much as I love my husband I can never provide him with all the love he needs. I cannot meet every need he has. As much as I love my parents, my sister, my children, etc I cannot meet and fulfill all their needs. And neither can they for me.
We search for love and the one who will "complete me". But these are false expectations. No person can make us feel complete or whole. When we realise that our expectations have not been met, we turn to another relationship in the hopes that this one will satisfy us. We can end up going from one relationship to another as we seek to find "the one".
The truth is that no one can ever complete us - save one. This is the good news I want to share today. Christ, and Christ alone, is the one who completes you and me. Only he can make us whole.
"For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority." Colossians 2:10 (NLT)
All that we need and ever will need is found in a relationship with Christ.
Paul's prayer for all believers is "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, 18 be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; 19 and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself]." Ephesians 3:17-19 (AMP)
God is the only one who can give us all the love and acceptance our hearts are searching for. We will never receive unending, limitless, unconditional love and total acceptance from another human. We were not made with the capacity to provide for others in this way.
But, in God, we can know what it truly means to be completely loved and accepted.
Paul writes in Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (AMP)
Nothing can separate us from God's love. He will never stop loving us. He will never abandon us.
The psalmist wrote: "But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth." Psalm 86:15 (HCSB)
At this time of year, many people's thoughts turn to love and Valentine's Day. For some, it's a day to look forward to as they look for ways to express love to someone they care about and as they wait to receive expressions of love in return. For others, it can be a painful reminder of love lost or feeling that they have no-one who loves them as they desire to be loved.
Each one of us longs to be loved and accepted. We were made for relationships. We can experience many forms of love, whether it's the love of parents for a child (and vice versa), love between siblings, love of a good friend, love between girlfriend and boyfriend, or husband and wife etc.
As much as we can receive and give love within these relationships, no one person was ever meant to meet all our needs. One person cannot totally satisfy our need to be loved and accepted. If we look for that person to do so, they will end up frustrated that they are not able to be all that we need them to be, and we will end up disappointed and disillusioned.
As much as I love my husband I can never provide him with all the love he needs. I cannot meet every need he has. As much as I love my parents, my sister, my children, etc I cannot meet and fulfill all their needs. And neither can they for me.
We search for love and the one who will "complete me". But these are false expectations. No person can make us feel complete or whole. When we realise that our expectations have not been met, we turn to another relationship in the hopes that this one will satisfy us. We can end up going from one relationship to another as we seek to find "the one".
The truth is that no one can ever complete us - save one. This is the good news I want to share today. Christ, and Christ alone, is the one who completes you and me. Only he can make us whole.
"For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. 10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority." Colossians 2:10 (NLT)
All that we need and ever will need is found in a relationship with Christ.
Paul's prayer for all believers is "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, 18 be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; 19 and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself]." Ephesians 3:17-19 (AMP)
God is the only one who can give us all the love and acceptance our hearts are searching for. We will never receive unending, limitless, unconditional love and total acceptance from another human. We were not made with the capacity to provide for others in this way.
But, in God, we can know what it truly means to be completely loved and accepted.
Paul writes in Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (AMP)
Nothing can separate us from God's love. He will never stop loving us. He will never abandon us.
The psalmist wrote: "But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth." Psalm 86:15 (HCSB)
Can you say with John: "We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love." 1 John 4:16-18 (NLT)
When we have experienced this love for ourselves we are then free and able to love others in the way we were meant to love them and also free to accept the love that they have for us. We no longer need to look to them to fulfill all our needs.
"Beloved, let us [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. 8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]" 1 John 4:7-8 (AMP)
To Think About:
Have there been times in the past when you have looked to others to meet your need to be loved and accepted? What was the result of this and how has it affected your relationships?
What difference does it make knowing God loves you completely? If you find it hard to believe this, ask God to help you to know deep within your soul that you are loved by him. Ask him to show you what it means to be loved by him.
Think about your relationships with others. In what ways can you show them love? Think about them individually - what love action would demonstrate best that you love them? Is it spending time with them? Giving them a meaningful gift? Using your words? Physical touch, such as a hug? Doing something for them?
Vicki
When we have experienced this love for ourselves we are then free and able to love others in the way we were meant to love them and also free to accept the love that they have for us. We no longer need to look to them to fulfill all our needs.
"Beloved, let us [unselfishly] love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. 8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]" 1 John 4:7-8 (AMP)
To Think About:
Have there been times in the past when you have looked to others to meet your need to be loved and accepted? What was the result of this and how has it affected your relationships?
What difference does it make knowing God loves you completely? If you find it hard to believe this, ask God to help you to know deep within your soul that you are loved by him. Ask him to show you what it means to be loved by him.
Think about your relationships with others. In what ways can you show them love? Think about them individually - what love action would demonstrate best that you love them? Is it spending time with them? Giving them a meaningful gift? Using your words? Physical touch, such as a hug? Doing something for them?
Vicki
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What an excellent post.
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