Influencers Weekly Devotional

Loving YOU, Just Loving YOU by

Rocky Fleming

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'” Matthew 22: 36-37

OK, I'll lead out and be one of the few men who will admit he watched the Oscars Sunday night. Your wives will likely respect me more when they hear this, even though I might take a hit on a man's respect meter. Even so, you might use the opportunity to read this devotional with your wife, for it might be good for your perspective and possibly your marriage. Let me hear back from you if it does. The truth is, I have very little respect for the typical celebrities and their lifestyles. I am angered by the way a few people in the entertainment industry have shaped politics and morals in this nation, as if they know what is best for the “uninformed.” They have the power of the press and a publicity machine in their camp, and they use it subliminally to shape people toward their way of thinking. Although I can respect their talent, I find few celebrities, whether it is in the entertainment or sports industry, who deserve my true admiration. Few of them have it together as much as they would portray, and many of the lifestyles are terrible examples of what to do with fame and fortune. Therefore, I am impressed when someone uses his or her celebrity for good, and it is this off screen activity that deserves my respect. To me the Academy Awards by in large looks like a parade of egotists who love the fame, the glory and the camera. For example, when my wife and I watched the pre-ceremony interviews, the question for every woman was “Who are you wearing?” Of course the response was to name the designer. Oh how I wish some brave woman would have responded, “I had a local seamstress make it” or “I bought it off a rack in a store.” If there had been one of these responses, I believe I would have pulled for her to get an Oscar for this alone. Truth is, I've seen very few of the “stars” check their ego and leave it on the screen, and they lead us to believe that they set the standard for success. It is rare to see someone different at an event such as the Oscars, but there is an occasional person who shows up from time to time, and it is one of these heros who has garnered my respect. She happens to be a movie star who came to the Oscars wearing basic black and a starched white habit. Nobody asked her “Who are you wearing?” for they wouldn't want to hear the answer. Listen to her story and learn something about loving God and using her celebrity to His glory. Mother Prioress Dolores was once known as Dolores Hart. She was an actress back in the 50's and 60's, and a real cutie. I remember her well and might have even had a crush on her, as most 14 year old boys did at the time. She was in ten films during her movie career and at the age of 24 made a one way trip to an abbey in Connecticut to become a Benedictine nun. When asked why she left the glamor of Hollywood and her engagement to a successful architect to live a monastic life of a nun she replied, “I was in love with God.” It is obvious she saw that her love for God needed to be expressed in total dedication, by living a life of celibacy and service for Him. I think a song called Loving You by Elvis in a movie by the same name would give us an idea of Dolores' dedication to love God with all her heart. By the way, she is the cute blond in the movie. “I will spend my whole life through Loving you, just loving you. Winter, summer, springtime too Loving you, loving you, Makes no difference where I go or what I may do, You know that I'll always be loving you, just you.” As I heard and read about this tremendous human interest story of Dolores Hart, and compared it to the Hollywood hype that surrounded her presence, I could not help being encouraged that there are some good things and good people who know how to handle their celebrity status. Although I am not Catholic, I can appreciate that there are some people who feel they are given the gift of celibacy and service for God, and this would cause them to live a monastic life, which is the case with Mother Dolores. There are also some Protestants who feel the same way and live private lives of celibacy and dedication to God, but do not live in a monastery. The Apostle Paul indicates in his letters that he too lived this way, and felt it gave him greater freedom to serve His King. So, I get the reason it is done by some people. It is a gift from God that is unique to them. However, it is not the only way to love God faithfully and without conflict. If not it would mean that marriage is wrong, which we know God formed for man and woman and declared it “Good”. Therefore, there are ways to love God first and foremost while being married, and that is where I'm going with this devotional. The Apostle Paul said that not all people have this gift and if they are married, then they should live Christ honoring marriages. It is true that we should love God with all our heart, soul and mind. As Jesus said, it is the Great Commandment. Therefore, there should be no competition for our love for God in our marriage. Ahusband and wife should put each other second and God first in their love priority. But, loving God and our spouse this way doesn't cheat a marriage. Rather it enhances it, and makes a love connection with a husband and wife's relationship as nothing else can. It has been said that we can love our spouse better by loving him or her second and God first than if we loved our spouse first. After 43 years of marriage to one woman, I can say that this is true. What are some ways we can love our spouse better because of our love relationship with God? Well, I think we have as an example the best role-model with the way Jesus loves His bride, the Church. Keep in mind that Jesus did all He did for us because of His love for the Father, and the Father's love for Him. This vertical love relationship was lived out to you and me by how He has served us. He gave His life for us. He gave up His rights for us. He gave us His mercy, and graced us with His unconditional love. He shows us how to love His Bride because of His love for His Father. I don't know about you, but when I realize these things it makes me want to love Him more and better. It makes me want to delight Him with my life and my actions. I want to please Him. I want to bring Him a smile. Because I am married, I don't have to go far to find a place that would express this love back to God. I look at the precious woman who has shared my life, and know I can show my love to God by loving her as Jesus has unconditionally me. This is how loving God first causes me to love my wife better, and it is the same with her. I would ask you men and women who read this devotional to use it as a catalyst for communication with your spouse about your love for God and each other. So many times we try to get things right between us before we are willing to allow our love relationship with God to impact our marriage. Instead of going to Him with our love, we go to Him with our complaints, and believe me, we are not putting our love relationship with God first when we do this. I believe so many of our difficulties in our marriage can easily be worked out if we simply strengthen our love relationship with God, for loving God this way brings His blessing back to our marriage. To make this our first priority will stretch our faith. But, I believe Mother Dolores would agree that whatever our sacrifice might be, whether it is to live in a marriage or a life of dedicated service to Him, it will never match the blessing He gives back to us when we love Him first. Download file