Daily Devotions
Do Not Stir Up Love Until It Pleases
Reading for July 13th: Song of Solomon 1-4
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.
Song of Solomon 3:5
Single people in the church have a hard time. They feel pressure from the rest of us to get married. They see happy families at church on Sunday and wish they could have the same. They hear countless sermons on the blessings of home and family. They get asked constantly about their "love lives."
This pressure can cause problems. They might rush into relationships and ignore warning signs. They rush headlong into physical intimacy outside of marriage and either sin or create emotional attachments that leave deep scars after breakups.
It is to you that the wisdom of Song of Solomon is directed here. The Shulammite woman tells the daughters of Jerusalem to not "awaken love until it pleases" many times (2:7; 3:5; 8:4). The exhortation is to let love arise on its own and not force it to happen. When it is right and it is time, true love (self-sacrificial, self-giving, Christ-like love) will arise naturally.
This is not to say that you must simply wait for it to happen. There's nothing wrong with pursuing love. Just keep your eyes open and your standards high. Don't force something when it is not there.
Father, protect the hearts of our single brothers and sisters who are seeking love. Give them a sense of self-worth in knowing your love for them, and help them to not settle for anything less than true selfless love in a potential mate.
