You can tell when someone is in love by the way their priorities change. The sports fan who before never missed an opportunity to cheer on his team on game day is now planning picnics and taking hikes with his beloved in the mountains on game day. The thrifty businessman who never wasted a dime is now shelling out for roses, dinners, and trips to seaside. The artistic introvert who never liked spending time talking on the phone or being in crowds is now spending all her free time on the phone and is content to be in the midst of crowded parties just for a few more minutes with the one her heart adores.
Love’s core nature is to give of itself; to pour out in abundant generosity. We see this nowhere clearer than when God speaks of his own love in the classic passage, “God so loved the world that He… (did what?) gave…”
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever should believe in Him should not die, but have everlasting life.” ~John 3:16
We read elsewhere in John’s letters that God is love itself (I John 4:8) and His very nature is to pour out his heart for us through his giving nature. As I was reflecting on this truth, I realized that there are two kinds of gifts that God pours out. One kind of gift is given regardless of our response or receptivity to Him. Jesus tells us that God brings the gift of sunshine and rain upon both the wicked and the righteous (Matthew 5:45), the just and the unjust. Similarly, we are given the gifts of breath and of sleep, of snowflakes and of stars, of sunrise and of rainbows, of language and of thought, and of unique fingerprints, DNA and personality. And a thousand other gifts of grace that we could not innumerate if we tried. All these gifts are given regardless of whether we want them or not, whether we make space in our hearts to respond in gratitude or not.
Without these gifts of grace pouring from the Author and Source of Love, we could not live or move or have our being. Apart from this common grace, we could not see or feel, think or reason. This gift of Life itself (body, mind, and soul) is perhaps the most startling gift since we never asked for it and only very slowly discover what it means to be in possession of such a gift. Even our own ability to love comes to us as a gift. John tells us that our fundamental capacity to love is only there because “[God] first loved us” (I John 4:19).
“We love because he first loved us.” ~ I John 4:19
However, there is another kind of gift that God’s heart of love pours out, but unlike the first kind of gift this type of gift requires a vessel to receive the gift, a heart open to respond to the gift. If you try to pour water into a bottle that is corked or covered, the water will splash down on the counter or on the floor, or splash up in your face or onto your clothes – pretty much anywhere but into the bottle where you wanted it to go, because it was not prepared and opened to receive the water. However, if you poured that same water into an open bucket or empty vase, the water will not be spilled and wasted because it has a vessel open and ready to hold it.
In the same way, the most prized gifts God desires to pour out requires a vessel that will receive the gift. The gift of salvation through Jesus, His beloved Son, the gift of fellowship with His presence, the gifts of Divine joy and peace in the Holy Sprit. The gifts of Divine purpose and destiny in union with Him. These are the gifts He desires to pour out on every heart, not desiring that any should perish and miss the gift of eternal life with Him. But many are unwilling to open their hearts to receive these gifts that would bless them and nurture their souls.
I remember a dear loved one who was going through a difficult time and was starting to distance herself from all those around her. She told me that she didn’t want me to send her any gifts because she didn’t want to feel obligated to receive it. She recognized that the very act of receiving a gift from someone forms an emotional tie and a relational bond. She thought if she could control the relationships in her life and not allow love in, her heart would be protected from more pain.
It hurt my heart when she said that because I wanted her to know how much I loved her. And since Love’s nature is to pour out when she told me she didn’t want to receive any gifts from me, it felt like a barrier that she had intentionally erected to keep my love from being expressed to her. This is a small taste of what God’s heart of love must feel like as He longs to pour out His redeeming love into each one of our hearts. But He will not force us to receive that gift. Love never forces the one it loves to receive or respond to the gift it offers.
Often, we are so busy erecting barriers in an attempt to protect our hearts that we do not realize we have locked out the only One who can heal our hearts and we are left alone with the scars of the past and our broken heart unable to find healing and peace. But God is patient and He will wait and draw near and keep knocking upon the door of our heart. Like a mother whose breasts are full of abundant milk, God is full of abundant love that aches to be pour out into a hungry mouth and open heart. But He will wait until you realize there is nowhere else you can receive the Love that He gives. He desires that all should come to Him so that we might receive these sacred gifts that can be received in no other way. May we open our hearts to receive His love anew today. For each day, the choice to receive love and to pour it out must be made new. As Le Guin says, “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.” ~Le Guin
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.”
~Le Guin
Aliel Cunningham 
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