A little excercise goes a looooong way ...

I have finally started back at the gym! Miracle - yes I know :-) Anyway - as I was swimming this morning I started thinking about how our whole body thrives and benefits when we excercise it. It is not just the muscles that we are excercising that benefits - but our general health overall and wellbeing improves and benefits. For me personally, I feel empowered and energised after a good workout. And then it hit me - that is exactly what happens when we "excercise" the fruit of love ... everything in our lives benefits!! Practicing (excercising) love changes our situations, mind sets, realtionship etc. 

After my first day back at gym on Friday, I went through a very "stiff" weekend. My whole body ached! But in some funny way - it was a "good" ache because I know that it is EVENTUALLY going to give way to some promising results ;-) And maybe that is quite true of the process of practicing love when we really don't want to ... or when it is hard to. It takes sheer discipline and willpower to over-ride our stubborn feelings and emotions to love with God's love especially when the person or situation doesn't "deserve" our love. But oh the wonderful fruit when we do love with His love!!! It breaks down walls ... builds bridges ... ushers in peace and brings life to all that it touches.  

I have always been moved by how God gives us the power of choice to choose whom we love. It just shows that He is a true lover. One who really loves, never demands love in return - because they want to be loved from the heart, not on demand. That is the love that God has for us - He loves us enough to give us the choice to either love Him or reject Him. But when we start to live with the knowldge of how completely He loves us, how can we not respond to Him in love. And to love Him is to love those that He loves ... people ... and who of us actually deserves His kind of love? So then should I only love those desrving of my love? Hmmm ... I think I have a lot more excericising to do!!!