How Good am I at Loving?

"Love is the overflowing result of one person in true fellowship with another."
~Oswald Chambers

How much time to I spend developing "...true fellowship...?" Yikes, how convicting. I tell my wife I love her every day, but it has been a while since I have pursued her with the idea of creating a true fellowship... How much more seldom with my Lord? I'm afraid many relationships follow this same trap.

I have a thought bouncing through my head: Pursuit creates valadity in our minds. I think we can pursue someone or something for two main reasons:

1. We think we need that person/thing. It would seem the pursuit effort is compounded when the person/thing is just a little hard to attain-there is likely a bit of selfishness involved in this one, but also the excitement of romance, or
   
2. We understand that a continual pursuit is required for excellence at anything. We continue the effort-not for the pride of conquering, not so we can pridefully say we've attained, but so we can look back at the entire journey and believe we understand the Word telling us: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward." ~Colossians 3 23-24
   

Having these ideas in my head is much easier than acting them out in my life. Mr. Chambers talked of the effect these things have on personality. He describes personality as the characteristic mark of the inner, spiritual man. What a great test. What are the loves of my life (and what order should they fall into)?

1. God
2. My Wife
3. My children
4. My extended family
5. Friends
6. Work/Hobbies

Can I honestly say my personality--my thoughtless, characteristic traits reflect a pursuit of the items on this list-in this priority? Am I able to honestly answer this question? Mr. Chambers would say we can't answer such a loaded question. Since God is the only one able to fully understand the depths of our personality, there is only one place-one way to measure something so vast: Our Life vs. The Word.

A Godly pursuit of excellence involves understanding how my personality (willingness to give pursuit) and priorities match up against the Word of God. I must make note of the areas that disagree, and I must beseech God for His help in understanding and changing these areas.

One last great quote from Mr. Chambers that sums up so much of this internal dialog of mine:

"Once your rights to yourself are surrendered to God, your true personal nature begins responding to God immediately."