At its core, love is a personal responsibility and improvement of self, not a demand of others. Love encourages but does not expect. Concentrating on where others fall short is a past time that we all partake in. I unfortunately do this everyday in some small way. (and somedays in really big ways.)
We all let each other down by thinking 'if the other could just could have done better today.' Why do we do this? For some, focusing on another person's problems allows us to feel better about ourselves. For others, it is a way to justify what we do or do not do. For some there is nothing better than some good gossip.
But what a better world would it be if we all resolved to encourage one another instead of setting expectations of one another?
Romans 14:13 Let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
1 Corinthians 3 18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.
This dare today I will seek out something I have been harsh on with my wife. We are to have a time set aside for discussion today. This is what I will ask of her. Ask her forgiveness, encourage her instead, and pray the Spirit in me is present and guiding my words and deeds
Followers of Jesus are most effective
when attitudes and actions are aligned with His.
The set aside time did not happen, but I did come close to fulfilling this dare because I was present in the moment, and instead of jumping on top by setting an expectation I chose to be curious to ask a question about what she needed instead of judging the situation. I consider this a huge win for how I used to act in the past.
The dares success is when you do what the dares say and trust Christ enough to do them as they are written without our manipulation to them. There are times when the opportunity does not exist or the response is not good, but those do not define the success or failure.
This is a journey with Christ. And it is the walk in trust that defines this entire journey.