Four Letter Word
God has really been on me lately, about one thing. A word we throw around
like pasta at a food fight.
Love.
And when I think about Love, my mind automatically goes back to my preteen years when I would close my bedroom door and crank my music up loud and dance around my room to the (and I use this word loosely) all-girl "band" who would sing songs about the drama that is 12 year-old relationships. However, whomever was writing their music did something right because I still 10 years later remember the words to one of their songs (yes if I tried I could probably sing the whole CD...both of them.) ANYWAY, the song was about love I think of the lyrics to that wisdom-filled song....
What is Love? It’s a kiss on a rainy day, a smile that won’t go away a safe place to run, what is love it’s a complicated simple truth a bond between me and you, the number one. All that's love.
So...what?!?
None of that depicts love. Yeah some of those things are nice but seriously if I were married to a man who the only way he showed me love was to drag me outside in the rain to kiss me...I think I would feel a little less than loved.
So. What is love really?
I am no expert but I have been reading through 1 Corinthians 13. and wow. I do not love others. I am probably on borderline hatred of others in Gods eyes. Coming to this realization was not easy.
I started reading in Malachi a few years ago and have slowly been making my way through the New Testament before I go chew on the meat that is the Old Testament. So I made it to 1 Corinthians and was getting really excited as I neared chapter 13, the "love chapter" thinking "oh this will be fun easy and I may spend an extra day or so here so that I can really get it all" uh, no. I have been on the second part for about 2 weeks now, and let me tell you starting in verse 4 it gets real.
"Love is PATIENT; Love is KIND it DOES NOT ENVY or BOAST. It is NOT ARROGANT," and really that is as far as I have made it, because until I exemplify all of these qualities I don’t need to try to move on!
So this week I wrote on my hand "Patient and Kind BE LOVE"
Go back and read that chapter. When you see the word "love" replaces with your name, then go back through and use God’s name. I was surprised by how few of the Traits that God lives so easily do I live out ever.
I am not Patient. And I thought I was kind...until I started people watching, and seeing myself in other people.
There is a man at my church, who shows love. But showing love to him GENUINE love is difficult. He could have a 45 minute conversation with a complete stranger if they’d let him. However, he is one of those people that if you can avoid talking to him for a day most people do. And there is really no reason for it. I was watching him last Sunday before church. He was up on the stage trying to talk to a man who is on the worship team. The man was on his Kindle completely ignoring him. I understand there are times when you are deep in a project and need to finish by a deadline and cant have a lengthy conversation but this man literally would be happy with a hug/or handshake and to know how your week was. If he senses awkwardness in the conversation or if he sees someone else that he wants to talk to he will go to them.
The week before that I was the man with the kindle. I was reading 1 Cor 13 on my phone and I see the man coming towards me, I kept looking down almost hoping he would find someone else to talk to. Then I looked at the verse I was attempting to memorize. Love is Patient, Love is KIND. I then realized, I was neither! If I am hoping with all my heart someone will NOT come over to talk to me just because I don’t care to talk at that moment. I am wrong! It isn’t about me! So I decided to talk to him! Well God decided I needed to... and you know what, we had a great little talk, it was mostly him trying to get to know about me but then I just got to talk about myself.
I recently learned the reason that this man is the way he is. He was in a serious car accident when he was 19. He is now in his mid-50s and probably one of the friendliest people I have ever met. I still need to work on patience though. He can be a long winded talker but he always leaves conversations with a huge smile on his face. And if I can bring joy to someone merely by having a conversation with them that I am genuinely interested in that makes it all worth it!
But if I am not genuine this goes back to the beginning of the verse. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
‘If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to move mountains but I have not love, I am nothing. IF I GIVE AWAY ALL I HAVE, AND IF I DELIVER UP MY BODY TO BE BURNED, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, I GAIN NOTHING.”
So what in the world does that mean? Well, from what I gather it means that we can go through the motions of what we think is right but if we don’t genuinely LOVE it is worthless. So an example of this would be giving to charity, tithing 10%, and giving extra to the church. I can do ALL of these things, I can even do them with a happy heart, but if I don’t LOVE really LOVE, (exemplify all of the characteristics of Love, (patient, kind, selfless, etc.)) it is completely worthless.
Love is not just about all those things that those 12 year-olds led me to believe it was about. It is about being the living embodiment of who God is! Jesus wasn’t the one on his iPad too busy to talk. He was the one people on their ipads were ignoring! Because he loved more than they could comprehend!
I was watching elf earlier today and I realized, Buddy was the kind of excited about Santa that we should be about Jesus. At the sound of his name Buddy got all excited and spent every moment preparing for his return! WHY DON’T WE DO THIS! We have been given a ton of time to prepare for Jesus’ return and we are spending it doing everything but letting others know that he is coming back!
So what is love? Well that I am still learning but I do know that Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy or boast, it is not proud or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never Ends.
I may not be the perfect picture of love right now, but my Savior is and he lives in me. So I should do everything in my power to BE LOVE. So for now I’m working on these 2 things:
Patient & Kind
BE LOVE.
Love.
And when I think about Love, my mind automatically goes back to my preteen years when I would close my bedroom door and crank my music up loud and dance around my room to the (and I use this word loosely) all-girl "band" who would sing songs about the drama that is 12 year-old relationships. However, whomever was writing their music did something right because I still 10 years later remember the words to one of their songs (yes if I tried I could probably sing the whole CD...both of them.) ANYWAY, the song was about love I think of the lyrics to that wisdom-filled song....
What is Love? It’s a kiss on a rainy day, a smile that won’t go away a safe place to run, what is love it’s a complicated simple truth a bond between me and you, the number one. All that's love.
So...what?!?
None of that depicts love. Yeah some of those things are nice but seriously if I were married to a man who the only way he showed me love was to drag me outside in the rain to kiss me...I think I would feel a little less than loved.
So. What is love really?
I am no expert but I have been reading through 1 Corinthians 13. and wow. I do not love others. I am probably on borderline hatred of others in Gods eyes. Coming to this realization was not easy.
I started reading in Malachi a few years ago and have slowly been making my way through the New Testament before I go chew on the meat that is the Old Testament. So I made it to 1 Corinthians and was getting really excited as I neared chapter 13, the "love chapter" thinking "oh this will be fun easy and I may spend an extra day or so here so that I can really get it all" uh, no. I have been on the second part for about 2 weeks now, and let me tell you starting in verse 4 it gets real.
"Love is PATIENT; Love is KIND it DOES NOT ENVY or BOAST. It is NOT ARROGANT," and really that is as far as I have made it, because until I exemplify all of these qualities I don’t need to try to move on!
So this week I wrote on my hand "Patient and Kind BE LOVE"
Go back and read that chapter. When you see the word "love" replaces with your name, then go back through and use God’s name. I was surprised by how few of the Traits that God lives so easily do I live out ever.
I am not Patient. And I thought I was kind...until I started people watching, and seeing myself in other people.
There is a man at my church, who shows love. But showing love to him GENUINE love is difficult. He could have a 45 minute conversation with a complete stranger if they’d let him. However, he is one of those people that if you can avoid talking to him for a day most people do. And there is really no reason for it. I was watching him last Sunday before church. He was up on the stage trying to talk to a man who is on the worship team. The man was on his Kindle completely ignoring him. I understand there are times when you are deep in a project and need to finish by a deadline and cant have a lengthy conversation but this man literally would be happy with a hug/or handshake and to know how your week was. If he senses awkwardness in the conversation or if he sees someone else that he wants to talk to he will go to them.
The week before that I was the man with the kindle. I was reading 1 Cor 13 on my phone and I see the man coming towards me, I kept looking down almost hoping he would find someone else to talk to. Then I looked at the verse I was attempting to memorize. Love is Patient, Love is KIND. I then realized, I was neither! If I am hoping with all my heart someone will NOT come over to talk to me just because I don’t care to talk at that moment. I am wrong! It isn’t about me! So I decided to talk to him! Well God decided I needed to... and you know what, we had a great little talk, it was mostly him trying to get to know about me but then I just got to talk about myself.
I recently learned the reason that this man is the way he is. He was in a serious car accident when he was 19. He is now in his mid-50s and probably one of the friendliest people I have ever met. I still need to work on patience though. He can be a long winded talker but he always leaves conversations with a huge smile on his face. And if I can bring joy to someone merely by having a conversation with them that I am genuinely interested in that makes it all worth it!
But if I am not genuine this goes back to the beginning of the verse. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
‘If I speak in the tongues of men and angels but have not love I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to move mountains but I have not love, I am nothing. IF I GIVE AWAY ALL I HAVE, AND IF I DELIVER UP MY BODY TO BE BURNED, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, I GAIN NOTHING.”
So what in the world does that mean? Well, from what I gather it means that we can go through the motions of what we think is right but if we don’t genuinely LOVE it is worthless. So an example of this would be giving to charity, tithing 10%, and giving extra to the church. I can do ALL of these things, I can even do them with a happy heart, but if I don’t LOVE really LOVE, (exemplify all of the characteristics of Love, (patient, kind, selfless, etc.)) it is completely worthless.
Love is not just about all those things that those 12 year-olds led me to believe it was about. It is about being the living embodiment of who God is! Jesus wasn’t the one on his iPad too busy to talk. He was the one people on their ipads were ignoring! Because he loved more than they could comprehend!
I was watching elf earlier today and I realized, Buddy was the kind of excited about Santa that we should be about Jesus. At the sound of his name Buddy got all excited and spent every moment preparing for his return! WHY DON’T WE DO THIS! We have been given a ton of time to prepare for Jesus’ return and we are spending it doing everything but letting others know that he is coming back!
So what is love? Well that I am still learning but I do know that Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy or boast, it is not proud or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never Ends.
I may not be the perfect picture of love right now, but my Savior is and he lives in me. So I should do everything in my power to BE LOVE. So for now I’m working on these 2 things:
Patient & Kind
BE LOVE.
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