The fruit of caring

I heard someone say, "We seem to think we care for the things we love, but really we start to love the things we care for." Is this true? Here is the truth that I have found in it:

Another saying: "A mother becomes a mother when she first finds out that she is pregnant; and a father becomes a father when he first see his child." Think about that mother and her child, we may assume that it is an automatic kind of love; but that mother cares for that child for 9months -protecting and growing it. That care brought  love for that child. Her sacrifices through care brings her to an unexplainable feeling of  love, not just because. In the same thought -that father becomes a father the moment he now gets to hold and care for that child. As the weeks go on his sacrifices through care brought him to an unexplainable feeling of love.

Now think about a marriage before they choose to have a child. What was their love born from? They become each others best friends because that cared for each other.  They encouraged each other, scarified for each other, listened to each other, empathized with each other and simply appreciated and affirmed each other. That's how they fell in love. Love -the feeling-is a fruit of love-the verb. Their marriage was based on genuine care for each other that brought this unexplainable feeling of love. What if one day the husband or the wife told the other, "I don't love you anymore?" This is the most selfish thing anyone's voice can ever say. It's like saying, "I don't feel love for you because I am choosing not to care for you." If  you don't feel love anymore then you are choosing to not care for that person.

If you look up the definition of love, it sucks. If you look up the definition of care, you will understand more what I am trying to say. Gods two most important commands are commands of love. Love God and Love Others as yourself (John 13:34-35). Love is the essential of life, it's commanded! We love by caring. It seems we have a hard time understanding love because we have been so misinformed.This I how you know your misinformed: Do you think that to love something only comes after a feeling of love comes?

I once answered yes to that question and at times fall back into. I forget that the feeling of love, is the fruit of love and actually to love someone is to care for them. Think about it on a different scale. Do you feel appreciative for your house, if you are not caring for it as you should? Do you feel love for your nursing home patients, if you hate your job and complain? or Do you feel love for you dog if you are keeping him in his cage all day and refusing to play with him?

Today we need to understand that we love and appreciate the things that we care for. God commands us to care for things: our spouse, our children, our dog, house plant, home, and our friends. From our care we will be overwhelmed with this unexplainable feeling that comes from the fruit of loving!