The Success Of Love Is In The Loving

"The success of love is in the loving—it is not in the result of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want the best for the other person, but whether it turns out that way or not does not determine the value of what we have done. The more we can remove this priority for results the more we can learn about the contemplative element of love. There is the love expressed in the service and the love in the contemplation. It is the balance of both which we should be striving for. Love is the key to finding this balance."  Mother Teresa


Loving a wounded child has little to do with the child and everything to do with the parent.  It comes from the individual, not the relationship, and is motivated by the kind of person you are, not the kind of person your child is.  Love should be given freely, not as a debt to be paid off or an investment that you expect returns on.  

You can not measure the value of the love you gave by the wounded child's response but instead measure it by how much love you showed that day. Did you love as much as you were capable of?  Are you satisfied with the love you gave that day?  You have no control over how the child will receive their love but you have complete power over how much love you show to the child.  

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."  God loved us before we loved Him.  He loves us unconditionally.  He loves us when we were/are rebellious, rejecting and self-centered.   We do not deserve His love but He gives it because He loves.      

At the end of the day, it is not the child that determines the worth of the love you showed that day, but God.  So how are you doing in the love department?  Ask God.  And when you feel you have no more love to give then ask God to send His love through you.