Love Is Not Blind

If we draw back from facing and feeling our disappointments, then a part of us will experience spiritual deprivation. The more deeply we enter into our disappointment, then the more thoroughly we will see how committed we are to self-protection and turn from it in repentance to a more complete dependence on our Lord Jesus Christ.

Where have you been disappointed the most, I wonder? Most people to whom I address that question tell me: “My parents.” It’s surprising, though, how so many will not admit to being hurt or disappointed by their parents for fear they are failing to honor them or are being disloyal to them. Listen to what one writer has to say about this: “When someone appreciates his parents only because he overlooks the pain they caused him, his appreciation is not only superficial, it is self-protective. Love is never blind to others’ faults. It sees them clearly and is not threatened. It admits disappointment but forgives and continues to be warmly involved.”

Sadly, for far too many of us, love is not the bottom line—self-protection is. When we can look into the face of every disappointment and be willing to feel the pain it brings, there is no more powerful way of motivating our hearts to turn in full dependence toward the Lord. If we are unwilling to do this, then we might cling more to our own ways of handling disappointments than we do to His. And if we do, then in no way can we climb to higher and more distant spiritual peaks.

Further Study

2Co 12:6-10; Php 4:11; Eph 3:16

What could have been a great disappointment to Paul?

What attitude did he take instead?