May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. —1 Thessalonians 3:12.
“I’m not sure I can love that person any longer! My supply of love feels used up, my capacity for compassion seems to be exhausted!”
Yes, there are times when we feel as if others have exhausted our ability to love, either because their need is so great or because they are unwilling to love us in return. How can we continue to love them? We need a community of love, the fellowship of other believers who will support and love us during our times of spiritual depletion. We need brothers and sisters in Christ who will pray for God to increase our capacity to love and forgive. We need to trust that in response to all of our prayers, God will pour more love into our hearts through his ever-flowing stream of grace, the Holy Spirit bubbling up within us (Romans 5:5; John 7:37-39). When our ability to love feels low, we must not withdraw from people or give up on having relationships. Instead, we need to draw near to God and his people, asking for our Father’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to help us love and bless people in their time of need as we seek to be JESUShaped people in our broken world.