I received a really good devotional today and wanted to share with everyone...
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
How would you describe your love for others? Are you a patient soul or do you drum your fingers and tap your toes while you stew and sigh not-so-patiently? Is it hard to bring you to a point of anger or does flying off the handle come much too naturally? Do you keep score with those who have wronged you, ready to dredge up the past and become “historical” to make your point? Do you boast? Got a case of the green envies? Ever been rude to someone? How will we ever learn to love the way this passage urges us to?
Here’s an idea to help to flesh this out in real life. Make a copy of the love chapter on your computer. However, wherever the word love is used (or its pronoun ‘it’) leave a blank. Then try over the next week or so to be able to write your name in the blank when you have a chance to exhibit this quality in real life. Were you patient at the doctor’s office today and, instead of grumbling while sitting in the waiting room, you quietly thanked God for the extra time and then used it to pray for others? Write your name on the “________ is patient” line. Did you and another family member get into a heated discussion and you were tempted to bring up a wrong from the past but, with great restraint, held your tongue? Bravo! Write your name on the “________ keeps no record of wrongs” line. Were you kind to the grumpy cashier instead of being rude right back? Get out that pen and write away!
Be assured that if you take this challenge, God will give you lots of opportunities to practice displaying these wonderful characteristics of love. And you can count on others noticing the change in you as you seek to love out loud.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
James 1:22 (NIV)
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Love Out Loud
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2 comments:
Great post. I fail. But I'm still in school. I'll probably never graduate from the school of experiencing God's love and learning to express that same love to others. I'm a life-long student. That's a good exercise to do and to always keep in mind. Hopefully it will become more natural instead of such a stretch. =) Hey, there's always hope.
MB
I'm right there with you. When you look up "patience" in the dictionary, I think it has my name next to it - NO patience. Not sure why, but I seem to have a lot of patience with the kids, but with "Life" in general...not so much. I'm always in a hurry, planning whats next, always looking for something to do. I need to stop and smell the roses more often.
Thanks for your comments.
KB
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