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Do You Love Me Enough to Change?

Love does not always mean acceptance as the world thinks about love and acceptance. 'Just accept me and leave me be...' seems to be the mantra of this world. However, when we love someone, we often change our habits when we are around them.

Consider a guy trying to attract a girl. Body spray will only get you so far. At some point he will have to move beyond one-liners and Chuck Norris jokes. Change must come. She may accept him, but he will have to make some choices along the way if he will show his love. 

Consider how we adapt to family members. For those that smoke, they may take it to another room, even in the winter, to appease the family that doesn't. They do this to show love. The needs of others trump the desires of self. 

Consider roommates. They may keep their music down or their dirty clothes contained. They do so because they have accepted this relationship. They continue to do so out of love, even if just a desire to love God through the loving actions towards other people. 

Jesus said if you love me, you will obey me. Change is inherit in the process of falling in love, no less so with God. When we fall in love with anyone, we change what we know needs to change in order to continue growing in the relationship. 

If we were to picture a husband holding on to old habits that he knows offend his wife, we would say he doesn't love his wife enough, if at all. Her accepting him is only part of the equation. She may have accepted him as he was. But where is the proof of his love, if not in the change of his habits? To stay the same means there must be someone he loves more than her...himself. 

Likewise, God loved and accepted us as we were. But His sacrifice, done out of love, puts the decision very much on our part. If we accept God's proclamation, will we love Him enough to change?
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