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That which love withholds is withheld for the sake of the other who is loved - so that it may not harm him, so that it maybe be used for a more timely service or so that it may mature into a richer gift. A person who loves holds nothing for himself: he reserves nothing as of right. That which he holds, he holds either on trust or as gift. He holds on trust that which awaits its own maturity or the need or capacity of the other to receive it; he holds as gift that which is returned to him in the response of the other who is loved. The enrichment which many discover in the experience of loving is not an enlargement of rights or an increase in possession: it is the discovery as trust or gifts of that which had previously been known only as possession. When a person loves, all that is in his power is invested with a sense of purpose, as available for the other, or becomes a cause or occasion of gratitude, as received by gift from the other.
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Love's Endeavour, Love's Expense - The Response of Being to the Love of God
W. H. Vanstone
