September 6
Scripture: Col 3:13
Source author: Janet Graham
September 16
One Size Doesn’t Fit All We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. —Romans 15:1
But Mommy, I want you!” Elizabeth cried out. I sighed. Sometimes it seems no matter how much love and affection I pour on my youngest child, it’s never enough. Lord, she seems so needy, I told God. Her brother seems happy and secure with much less attention. But her brother is a completely different person than she is, He answered. I stopped in my tracks as some of my Christian education training from years earlier flashed through my mind. In communicating with people, I had learned, it’s not enough for us to present our message. The real measure of successful communication is finding we’ve presented our message in such a way that the person receiving the message understands what we’re communicating. The same was true in this situation. While I felt the love I was communicating to Elizabeth was adequate, she wasn’t receiving my message. If I truly wanted her to feel loved, I needed to keep pouring the love on to meet her individual needs.
Love is not one size fits all; different people have different love needs.
Loving wisely means not just looking at what we’re giving, but looking at what our loved ones need. — Janet Graham —