If You Love Me
I bit my nails right up until the time I was in my late teens – right down to the quick as my Mom would say. I tried valiantly to break the habit. My nails would grow a little bit, and before I knew it I was biting them again. I envied all the hands with beautifully manicured nails, but apparently it wasn’t enough to stop me.
Instead it was a casual remark by the teenage boy who would eventually become my husband that finally did the trick. We had known each other for years and were friends. However one day I looked at him and my heart decided it was feeling a bit more than friendship. I’m not sure how the subject even came up, but one day I heard him say, “I think it looks ugly when people bite their nails.”
I looked down at my own nubby fingers and saw them in a whole new light. From then on I stopped biting my nails. Just like that. There was someone who was more important to me than my long standing habit. It was the incentive I needed.
I’m not sure what triggered that memory, but it caused me to think about the things I struggle with on a daily basis – those besetting sins that seem harmless enough but are, nevertheless, sins. You know the ones. They hover there in the background whenever you pray for forgiveness – that list that you recite over and over again, wondering how He could possibly keep forgiving you for the same old things. Those things that bring shame and discouragement and often cause you to avoid prayer altogether.
I thought about my nail biting habit and how the cycle was finally broken because I wanted to please someone for whom I cared deeply. There is a little verse in John that speaks volumes. It is Jesus speaking:
“If you love Me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15
If I love Him….it is as simple as that. If I love Him, I will stop doing those things I know cause Him pain, those things I somehow think don’t matter all that much but are unarguably sin. I will guard my tongue, eat sensibly, stop complaining….. Love compelled Him to suffer unimaginable pain and to die for those very things I take so lightly. My love for Him should compel me as well.
The miraculous thing is, His love for you and me is so great He has promised to give us grace to overcome all of those things. He asks only that we make the choice. He asks that we love Him more than those things.
Blessings,
Linda
Simple post – simple message – but a profound challenge to love by obedience! 🙂 Jo
My “anti-spam” word is grace. I always find grace in your writing. Thank you.
I love this, bless you.
What a beautiful reminder to try to no longer fall back into the same old habits/sins. His love is indeed powerful…
Old habits are hard to break. But with trusted accountability partners, we can overcome.
Beautiful message! I too once bit my nails. I’m so glad that God loves me so much that He helps me overcome some bad habits. Thanks for sharing. 🙂