Daily Delight

“Love like you have never been hurt.”These words have been on repeat in my heart since the latter half of last year.Last September, everything was going good...very good, actually! I had rekindled a love with a guy I considered special; someone I saw myself spending the rest of my life with. We were not dating or anything quite yet—we were taking things slow— but things were looking up. We had liked each other for five years, which was most of my time in medical school.Eventually, this guy started talking about the things I had always wanted him to talk about, like marriage. I was so excited! We were about to graduate as medical doctors, so I figured he was finally starting to grow up and get his life in alignment with God's will. Things really were looking up.After lengthy conversations about the future—when he would propose, when we would get married, where we would work, when we would go back for our master’s degrees, when we would start a family, and so forth—something devastating happened. After graduation, we both went back home and I literally never heard from him again. I tried calling and texting, but to no avail. I was truly heartbroken. It felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I constantly found myself crying in the arms of my Heavenly Father. I felt so stupid because this wasn't the first time something like this had happened between us. He often disappeared. And I found myself trusting him every time he came back because I let my feelings cloud the reality of our "relationship". After this happened, God walked with me through a season of healing, I cried through just about all of it. I didn’t want to surrender my pain. I didn’t want to love again. But God reminded me of His son; how He died for me and my sins; how he still loves me despite my crimson stain. Through this reminder, I heard the Lord whisper the truth into my heart that it was okay to love again.As I walked through this season, I began to understand the the words “love like you have never been hurt”. This is what God does, for us. He is love!

If I want to be like Him, I need to love like Jesus. Loving like Jesus does not look like building walls around your heart. It means letting go of offense. Proverbs 18:19 says, “An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city.” When I harbor hurt, I lose out on experiencing the true, unyielding love of God and the opportunity to share it with others.I am so grateful to now be in the place I am; unafraid to love again. I trust that God will provide the right husband for me. In the meantime, I am choosing to soak in the goodness and the blessings of my everyday while I keep my heart open to the work of the Spirit as He prunes and grows me in ways that will allow me to one day be the right wife for my future spouse.

About the Author

Mukanga Chola

Mukanga is twenty-five years old and lives in Zambia. She recently graduated from medical school and holds a deep love in her heart for Christ.In her free time, Mukanga enjoys reading books, writing, listening to music, hanging out with friends, cooking, eating, and watching television. She also likes very clean and organized environments.You can find her blog here, her Instagram here, and her Twitter here.