God's love

Lately I've been reading The Seeking Heart by Fenelon. Each exerpt is about a page long and hits you right in the gut. Just when I think I've got this "God's love" thing under control, I realize how selfish I still really am. Fenelon says, "Love others in and for God. Often you love yourself, reflected in another. Is this the love of God? No, it is self-love, and not real friendship." He goes on to say how we should love what God has deposited in them instead of what they can do for us. MAN! I'm busted! Last week Gabe and Judah met two boys who live in the projects near our house. They are 8 and 5 years old. They have no manners, they fight and push, they want everything we have (toys and food), they come over every day and don't understand if my boys are unable to come out and play, and they use foul language. Yet at the same time, they are tender, hungry for love and attention, and are like sponges when we talk to them about Jesus. It is such a challenge for me to be patient and loving towards them. They have not been disciplined and are only obedient after they have been asked five or six times. Later on, Fenelon says, "Can you love God and not love those he has asked you to love? Can He not supply you with the love you need to obey Him? God's love in you endures all things, bears all things, hopes all good things for others...Love is touched with compassion for the sorrow of others, but causes you to think nothing of you own." Even though it is hard and inconvenient for me to love those boys, I know they have been sent from God. For me, this as a season of dying to my selfishness. For them, it is a season of God's love being poured out into empty and dry souls.