Love Versus Power

 My older brother asked the question, "If I try to be more good, does that make someone else want to be more bad?" I said, "Yes it can. Like Paul in the Bible said, 'If I love you more, will you love me less?" Meaning people can exploit our goodness. It makes us weak.

Love always makes you weaker, have you noticed? There is a great sermon by Tony Campolo. He has a book now called "Choose Love, Not Power." Go check it out on Amazon. :) His sermon on this topic was the most profound sermon I have ever heard. He said, "You girls are told by your mom to not let yourselves go in a relationship, because when you do, you loose all your power." That is always true, the more in love you are with someone, the less power you have. They have caused you to become weak and undone. They can hurt you more then anyone else, but they can make you feel better then anyone else too. You give them so much power over you when you really, really love them. 

You cannot have power and love at the same time. If you love someone, you let them have your power. That really is what love is, it is giving someone else your power. Like Samson with Delilah, you give the secret of your strength to them. 

If you don't really love someone, you are able to keep your power. This is why so much of the world chooses to be generally callous, so they can keep their power. This is why divorces happen, one or both people are tired of giving their power away and feeling weak. 

But if you want to really feel love, you have to let go of some of your power and let yourself be weak. 

Your life then shifts from being just you calling all the shots in your life, to it being the both of you. It is no longer I but we. It is not me but us. You do not live for just yourself anymore. You live for another person, to please them, to keep them happy. But they also try to keep you happy, which is nice. 

In any relationship in life you have to choose, do you want to experience love with that person or hold onto your power? Are you willing to become weak and vulnerable with them so they can be vulnerable with you? Or would you rather hide inside yourself to protect yourself? You feel more strong when you keep the walls up, but you are lonely. 

Come out from behind your walls and learn to trust people again. Maybe some people hurt you, but God can use Other people to heal you. Not all people are going to hurt you. Let yourself be vulnerable to the right people. If they are the right people, they will not exploit you because of your love or take advantage of your goodness. They will only add good things to your life. Pray that God will show you who the good people are, people that deserve your trust, and then let your walls down.

God bless!