Love is... Meant To Be Pursued.

For the month of February we have been studying 1 Corinthians 13 by way of cross referencing the various Love is and Love isn't statements.  It is a powerful thing to consider the supporting scripture to age old verses... especially on the complex issue of LOVE.  Today I want to wrap-up this 20+ day journey with a closing look at the eternalness of love and the pursuit we are all called to avidly run after.

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

- 1 Peter 4:7-10

I love 'absolute' statements in the Bible, they carry such power.  Do you see it here?  Above all... as if everything else is important but nothing is more important than (or even equal to) what comes next: KEEP loving one another.  But wait.  I put a period there.  However, it keeps going, doesn't it?  Above all, keep loving one another earnestly... aka, without ceasing, devotedly, not giving up.  And yet it still doesn't stop!  Instead, God, through Peter, goes on to suggest WHY he wants us to keep on with this loving one another earnestly thing: because love covers a multitude of sins.  

Wow.

One little action has such a HUGE impact.  But really, this is exactly what Jesus modeled, isn't it?  That while we were still sinners, Christ showed his love by dying for us.  Death on a cross.  A symbol of shame in it's time became a symbol of love... covering a multitude of sins.  Not a few sins.  Not some sins.  No, a multitude of sins.... many many many.

So here, in Peter, we are told the what, the why, and we are even offered a few examples of HOW: show hospitality without grumbling and be good stewards as we serve one another with the varied gifts God gives... humbly issuing them out to others... light on the lampstand style.

We are to do be in regular pursuit of loving acts and loving others. period.

In the whole of our study in 1 Corinthians 13, this message brings us full circle because it casts our gaze back to where the whole theme began:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of 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 remove mountains, but 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.

- 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

LOVE, there is no greater commodity in the Christian walk... nye... in all the world.  All else we do is for not if it is not underpinned with true, genuine, for-the-glory-of-Christ centered LOVE.  If it means this much to God, well, the answer is easy: it should mean that much to us.  Love... pursue it, live it, give it, become it. 


Blessings,

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

*Are you subscribed to my newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each last Thursday with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

• Encouraging articles on Faith, Home(making), and Homeschool
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

You won't find all this great bonus material on the blog so be sure to sign up so you don't miss out!  It's Ok, hop over real quick, right there to your right, see it on my sidebar where it says, "Subscribe to my Newsletter" with a  picture of the "Faith and Home Times" logo above it?  Ok, now enter your email in the box labeled "email address" then click "Subscribe"....(don't worry, it doesn't hurt and I promise not to spam you!). You should receive a confirmation email from me.  

I look forward to sharing Faith and Home Times with you!!

Love is... Kind In Spite of Rude

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear... Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

- Ephesians 4:28-29, 31-32

When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians it wasn't a detached missive or a rote Q&A response... no, Paul had spent 3 years with the people of this bustling town across the Aegean Sea from Greece in what is now modern-day Turkey.  As one of his prison letters, this dispatch was sent to encourage the believers in their Christian maturity.  Knowing this, really puts a twist on the concise list of do's and don'ts found in this particular section of passage.  Allow me to enumerate:

Let [these things] be put away from you...

• ALL bitterness
• wrath
• anger
• clamor (i.e. outcry)
• slander
• malice (i.e. wickedness that is not ashamed to break laws)

Instead, BE...

• kind
• tenderhearted
• forgiving (as God in Christ did for you)

I know, from various New Testament evidences, that similar challenges faced our 1st Century brothers and sisters as those we face today.  We live in a bustling, me-centric, often times rude world.  Whether deliberate or un-intentional, we are hard-pressed to get through a day or week without encountering (or ourselves accidentally being) rude.  How are we meant to respond to this?

As if on cue for the article God intended me to share this topic, I found myself, this past week, caught up in the middle of one of the rudest encounters I think I have ever experienced.  It has been a heart-wrenching reminder of the kind of brokenness, even in the body of Christ, which has no easy fix. 

What was worse is, in the aftermath, I found myself growing irritable and complaining over trivial things.  Tension was beginning to mount in my shoulders and neck and migraines were even sneaking on.  Why was this getting to me so badly??

Pouring over Ephesians 4 today, my spirit became downcast in remembrance, 'If only this person could read and absorb these truths... to be transformed to the glory of Christ...'  I felt the ache grow, the tension build and then... I saw, as in a mirror, Truth....

Yes, this rude person needed these truths... but so did I.  I had allowed the conflict to seed bitterness and anger, to build an outcry (clamor) and who knows what these patterns would have grown to become... except God's Word put it all in check.  Yes, what happened was wrong, but I could choose to PUT AWAY from me all of the negative attributes which were threatening my peace in Jesus.  I can BE kind, tenderhearted and, especially, FORGIVING. 

I can't control how others are handling things, but I can control how I do.

Plain and simple. 

I don't know if I am due to be subject of more of these rude confrontations with this person... it is possible I will.  Yet, I CAN choose to put away any feeling or response which does not glorify God and, instead, put on the robes of the One who saves me daily.  I can pray obedience and peace, just maybe, might reflect the Light of Christ to fix what is broken and wash away the rude in this other person.  I can also exit each of these encounters with strength and hope as I put away the negative reactions and BEcome an embodiment of Christ.

This section of Ephesians 4 opens with this:

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 

and give no opportunity to the devil.

Ephesians 4:26-27

We aren't meant to stay angry.  Anger and frustration with a situation will, inevitably, flare up to become a destructive ogre.  But we are to give it ALL to God lest we give the enemy opportunity to march into our hearts.  I don't know about you, but as for me, I will declare the Name of Jesus and march that enemy right back out!  Nothing in this life is worth growing in bitterness or wrath or anger or.... anything unbecoming of the Precious Name of Christ.  I choose Kindness in Spite of Rudeness, that my God might be glorified as a result!

Blessings,

This "Love is..." devo is inspired by my new Bible Study out this month where we take a unique approach of correlating the whole of scripture to the tenets of 1 Corinthians 13.  Have you been longing to learn how to love as Christ calls us to?  You may want to check this study out.  You can find a FREE link on my Instagram profile OR you can subscribe to my newsletter (it is FREE) and receive February's issue with the "Love Is" Bible study and more.  Details are below:

 

You can click here to see some of the great blogs I am linking up today ...

*Are you subscribed to my newsletter?  You might want to be.  Why?  Well, the newsletter contains bonus material you won't find on the website... not to mention, in those busy months when I can't get regular blog articles up, you can count on this periodical popping up in your email in-box each last Thursday with all new content!  What exactly does the newsletter contain?

• Encouraging articles on Faith, Home(making), and Homeschool
• Free printables under different themes each month
• Insider info on the latest goings-ons with all things on my blog and writing related

You won't find all this great bonus material on the blog so be sure to sign up so you don't miss out!  It's Ok, hop over real quick, right there to your right, see it on my sidebar where it says, "Subscribe to my Newsletter" with a  picture of the "Faith and Home Times" logo above it?  Ok, now enter your email in the box labeled "email address" then click "Subscribe"....(don't worry, it doesn't hurt and I promise not to spam you!). You should receive a confirmation email from me.  

I look forward to sharing Faith and Home Times with you!!

Knowledge IS (divine) Power

We get a really great Christian radio station in our area (KALS 97.1 F.M.) and when I can, I like to listen to their broadcast of teachings from Insight for Living with Chuck Swindoll. Chuck just has a great way of tackling issues and truths in this world of ours. I am always inspired when I listen. Yesterday I decided to sign up for e-devotionals and newsletters at his website. Go ahead... check it out, I'll wait.

[You can also pipe into KALS's live broadcast and hear about our neck of the woods first hand! Lots of great music too :-) ]

So I got my first devotional today. It happened to be part 2 in his study of The Legacy of Learning. Ironically, this topic has been weighing heavy on my heart. Especially after I walked in to see my 10 year old/5th grader doing kindergarten level math yesterday for her slotted math time (seriously, it was 5+0 and the like!!) I have been trying to impress upon my children the importance of learning and the gravity of knowledge. I have tried to help them understand the need to challenge themselves and the disadvantages of stagnation in education.

I went to Insight for Living's website and looked up Part One. I printed both off and grabbed our study Bible.

Overall I truly feel that some sturdy groundwork was laid. We talked about the scriptures Chuck reads from. We discussed what knowledge and ignorance are. We talk about other examples in the Bible where knowledge is important. I have even revisited our morning discussion throughout the day. When my 10 year old seemed to teeter on melt down over skip counting with 7's this afternoon, I reiterated our study. I pointed out that we need to start with what we do know to find what we don't know. It helped. I also quoted Edison in the form of, "I haven't failed, I have found 10,000 ways that did not work"!

Knowledge is so important. Those without it are easily duped, mislead, and simply made fools of. Is this, perhaps, a keynote of the alleged "dumbing down" in our public schools? My (public schooled) oldest son's 8th grade English teacher told her class the Swastika was the Jewish sign for good luck! Is this a way to keep them a step behind so they will fall for anything? I do NOT want that for my homeschooled children. That is why I am so animate in encouraging thought and the active pursuit of knowledge!

It is inspiring to find truth and support in God's Word (and handy quotes). I am uplifted and hopeful, though I know many 'reminders' will be needed to impress these points. I am thankful that I now have a foundation to build on and that the kids are already responding more to that than to my nagging. Praise God for His Holy Word!