Being an advocate for loving with intention I had this thought recently that I wanted to delve into.
TOUGH LOVE.
Tough - demonstrating a strict and uncompromising attitude or approach.
Love - An intense feeling of deep affection.
I began to search it out and came across this statement: Tough love is the ability to have hard conversations with a heart posture of love.
Did you just have an Omgoodness moment! I sure did because the fact of the matter is, there is so much intentionality in this statement alone. It’s obvious that the person who penned this must have had a been there done that moment and took the time to write to us about it!
My interpretation of this definition is that before tackling any subject matter that involves anyone else is that we should prepare ourselves. First mentally - thinking objectively before we speak. Emotionally - words that can have a positive impact get lost in translation in the heat of a moment. And last but surely not least, spiritually - we need divine intervention from God with such a huge undertaking.
Jeremiah 31:3 comes to mind when I want to be reminded of what of what it took for me to get here. It was Gods lovingkindness that drew me to this place called redemption and freedom.