We need to LOVE.
Love is a word that is thrown around left and right. From where I am currently sitting in my living room I can see the word, "Love" written on decorations in four different places, varying from a bookshelf to hanging on the wall.
Love is an important word to me. I may misuse the proper way it was meant to be defined when I say statements like, "I LOVE this taco." But to me I am not meaning the same thing as when I say, "I love you" to my family. I LOVE deeply and have a problem of letting go. I think that is why losing loved ones is so so difficult for me. Once you enter my life you are loved, it is not perfected yet but that is the ultimate goal of my life on earth.
In Matthew 28:37-40 Jesus simplified things for us by saying:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.
What LOVE is defined by scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:4-9
Love suffers long and is kind;
Love does not envy;
Love does not parade itself;
Is not puffed up;
Does not behave rudely,
Does not seek it's own,
Is not provoked,
Thinks no evil;
Does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth
Bears all things,
Believes all things,
Hopes all things,
Endures all things.
Love never fails.
Love can also hurt, as in Hebrews 12:5b-7, 11 (remember we are all imperfect and make mistakes)
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons;
for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
Oh, there is so much more I want to write, but since it is and has been raining for two days my kids are having an intense wrestling match upstairs above my head. I should check on them...
But before I go let's stop pointing out how wrong others are, instead encourage them to seek the one who created LOVE. If we don't show the way by example who will?
"The God of all creation is watching us. He is pleased with us. Do you know they way you move His heart?"
Misty Edwards lyrics from Only a Shadow here
2 comments:
It's funny... When I first arrived, 6.5 years ago, my ESL students would always ask me why we (Americans) say we "love" everything.
As this culture has become permeated by Hollywood & global music [& McDonald's!] media, I've only recently begun to hear people use the word "love" (amo) in this manner. Before, it was "adore" (adoro) or "like a lot" (gosto muito).
Seriously, though, I loved this entry :) ...and I love you, my sister in Christ. <3 Thank you for so eloquently saying what needs to be said.
Excellent post!!!
It's funny... When I first arrived, 6.5 years ago, my ESL students would always ask me why we (Americans) say we "love" everything.
As this culture has become permeated by Hollywood & global music [& McDonald's!] media, I've only recently begun to hear people use the word "love" (amo) in this manner. Before, it was "adore" (adoro) or "like a lot" (gosto muito).
Seriously, though, I loved this entry :) ...and I love you, my sister in Christ. <3 Thank you for so eloquently saying what needs to be said.
Excellent post!!!
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