Learning Love by Edith Schaeffer
"The family..
is the place where loyalty, dependability, trustworthiness, compassion, sensitivity to others, thoughtfulness and unselfishness are supposed to have their roots.
Someone must take the initiative and use imagination to intentionally teach these things.
Compassion and understanding of what another person needs.. comes through having been cared for!
Anyone who had the comfort of a little pot of tea, some cookies or toast, or a cup of coffee and some cheese and crackers, or a glass of milk and some fruit - just when he was feeling "down" in the midst of a project - then knows how to do the same things for someone else.
A family is the place where this kind of care should be so frequently given that it becomes natural to think of the needs of others.
Love is one of the basic commands which the Bible gives us concerning human relationships.
Husbands are to love their wives.
Christians are to love each other.
People who are in the Family of the Lord are to love those who are not believers.
Love is the basic ingredient of human relationships which is meant to be taught in the family.
The family is the formation center for knowing how to love,
how to express love,
and what love is all about.
We should be expressing love for each other verbally, and not be too embarrassed to say, "I love you, mother - I love you, dad - I love you, son," so that children grow up in a place where love is freely expressed, and becomes a perfectly normal thing to verbalize, just as "What a gorgeous sunset!" is normal to talk about.
Love isn't just a kind of soft feeling, a thrill of honey-suckle fragrance while being kissed on a June night!
Love isn't just happiness in ideal situations with everything going according to daydreams of family life or married life or parent-child closeness and confidences.
Love has work to do!
Hard and sacrificial work- going on when it would be easy to be provoked not to.
Love takes imagination and the balance of putting 'first things first' to be taught to the young pupils in their formative years.
Can human love be perfect?
No, but it is meant to be worked at through the years..
and it is meant to portray something within the family of the love of God for His Family.
What is a family?
A formation center for human relationships -
worth fighting for,
worth calling a career,
worth the dignity of hard work!"
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I enjoy the writings of Edith Schaeffer and thought I'd share this with you today.
I think she makes some excellent observations on love..what it is and how to nurture it within the home.
We can all learn something from these wise words of hers, so I hope you will be blessed and edified by them this week!
blessings to you..Trish
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Hello friends, welcome to LACE!
This meme is for encouraging one another and is based on Philippians 4:8
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Thank you and God bless you all..Trish
Hi Trish,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely picture of family nurturing and the passing on of Christian values you have given us today.
If only every family was like this.
God Bless
Love
Barb
xxx
You're right - love is hard work. May God give us all grace to show His love in our lives.
ReplyDeleteStefanie
What a lovely site!! All the books on your sidebar look just as delightful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wise post! I loved it!
ReplyDeleteOh I really like this....especially the part that love is work! It is. It takes dedication and commitment to make it work.
ReplyDeletePutting yourself last is not easy.
Maria
Hello Trish,
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. Yes LOVE is a selfless thing and it is amazing how quickly you see and learn that Love is not just a feeling but actions...When you have to LOVE someone who is unlovable...It truly becomes a work..But praise the Lord for His strength working in and through us, to make it possible.
Have a Very blessed day
Trish,
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good post! I agree with you about the importance of family, teaching children to express love, helping each other....
I linked up today, with my post about helping my daughters with their bedroom!
Deanna
I love you my dearest friend.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful words.
I have also posted about love.
Nell xoxo
Another great post. I so enjoy your thoughts and this post has so many important things to say about love.
ReplyDeleteI'm so pleased to be able to participate this week. Once again, thanks for hosting.
Love as a verb is an action word! I have been the recipient of that kind of Agape love for the past few weeks. I have been so thankful for the hard work of love shown to me by my family, friends, yes, even my dog, during my recent Lupus flare. I am feeling so loved!
ReplyDeleteHi Trish,
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm happy you shared this.
The part about how we learn to care for others, because we have been cared for in various ways reminded me of all the long nights when I was a child, and my Dad sat next to my bed when I had the flu, and he never complained about being tired.
Years later when I became a mom, and having a son who would spend several years ill, and up all night, I did the same as my Dad.
God bless you friend, and wishing you a very blessed day full of love,
~Michele
Showing and teaching children and family members the act of love is, indeed, very important. I like the fact that you mentioned that human love is not always perfect, but can be a beautiful attribute if shown in a caring and positive environment.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good book as well. Thank you for sharing this.
A lovely posting... a delightful blog!
ReplyDeleteI like your LACE idea!