Don’t Let Your Love Go to Waste
Sometimes we can’t be with the people we want to love.
Maybe it’s due to physical distance. Maybe it’s emotional distance. Maybe it’s just circumstances like jobs or schedules or something, like, say a pandemic.
But as the old 1970 Stephen Stills song says, If you can’t be with the one you love, honey, love the one you’re with.
Don’t let your love go to waste.
If you’re far from home and need parental guidance, find parent-substitutes who can fill in the gaps. They can love you and you can love them.
If you’re the grandparent who can’t be with your grandkids, find other people’s children to love.
If you need the support of a family but you don’t have that, find a set of friends to love and be loved by.
Don’t let your love go to waste.
There are many lonely people in the world. Sometimes we’re those lonely people ourselves. Other times we’re the ones overflowing with love to spend on someone else who is lonely.
Whichever category you fit today, give some love away and get some back.
Don’t let your love go to waste.
Share your thoughts in the comments.
I’m grateful that God never leaves us without people to love and to be loved by. Share in the comments.
I’m sharing at these blog parties
Amen, Lisa! Love is too precious a commodity to go to waste.
Blessings!
Love makes the world go around…:) And it is there, always worth Seeking.
Amen! God always has someone for us to share love with, if we will let Him show us. Thanks for always pointing us in the direction of love, dear Lisa!
This message is so dear to my heart! I am so grateful to the spiritual parents who poured into my life and my family’s life. We’re 3 1/2 hours away from where we grew up – and those spiritual family deeply impacted our lives! God gives us those born into our family – and those who walk into our family. Yes! Let’s open our hearts to love all that God gives us!
What a wise piece of advice, Lisa, and so scriptural! Jesus certainly modeled that behavior.
This a challenge for me, because I am content within my own four walls. I need to work on noticing and loving those God places in my path.
Hi Barbara,
One way that my husband and I have done this is literally by loving the people we encounter on our walking “path.” Because the pandemic encouraged our walking even more than usual (to keep our sanity! :)), we ventured into unknown neighborhoods. Now we “love on” new people whom we’ve met whom we now consider friends. We’ve taken elderly to get vaccinated, delivered meals, helped them with online shopping, sent them greeting cards, and offered to pray, etc. We provided a listening ear over flowers and fences when they had previously been devastated by isolation. I’ll bet if you put on your walking shoes, you’d be surprised by whom you meet whom you could love in *tangible* ways. Happy sauntering! 🙂
Lynn
This is such a good suggestion. There are so many ways to reach out and touch the lives of those around us. The wonderful part is that love does not stay contained. It spreads joy all around.
Lisa, as usual, I love your post! It brings to mind the woman who broke her alabaster jar as an expression of lavish love for Jesus. The Pharisees were horrified at the “waste.” Jesus praised her for it. When you encourage us not to let our love go to waste, you are modeling what Jesus tells us to do!
xo
Lynn
I love this, Lisa. Such a great reminder. May we never let our love go to waste! Love and blessings to you!
So beautiful Lisa! God spoke these words to me long ago as I lamented not being with my grandkids to love, or my children to love. Oh the sweetness of loving well, whoever God places in our path. I meet so many hurting, lonely people and my heart full of love for those who are not in my life overflows to those others God brings my way in need of love!
Lisa, I love this. Don’t let your love go to waste. This requires us to get outside ourselves and to find those we can spend our love on. Thanks for this great visual.
Such good advice. Find other people to lavish with our love and share with them. Our love can grow and grow and include others.
Good advice! Great reminder! Convicting and comforting at the same time.
Neat take of dealing with difficult people. I encountered several this week and kept hearing “Give them grace.” Gave me peace and created a space for God, not my poor attitude to bridge the relationships.
What a beautiful, meaningful and thought-provoking post, Lisa! Thank you for sharing this wisdom and encouragement with Hearth and Soul!