Perfect Love
A couple of days ago we (IVCF BGSU chapter) discussed and tried to understand God’s definition of love. I feel it is important we know what love is and what it’s not because right now we’ve let the world define everything for us.
So 1 Corinthians 13 sums it all up. We listed the various emotions, actions that are love then listed their corresponding opposite. The result actually makes you see how much you still need God in your life, the result also makes you way wiser in relationships. You simply cannot be cheated if you know Gods word and live by it. Check this out:
Love:
Is patient, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not rude, is not self seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth, does not give up, never fails
So you can detect something that isn’t love if:
its impatient, unkind, envious, boastful, rude, self seeking, easily angered, remembers your wrongs, if it delights in evil, if it doesn’t rejoice in the truth, if it gives up, if it fails.
See how imperfect we are? See how God’s word is applicable in this day and time? Have you ever felt like giving up on a friend? Like they’ve continually hurt you and caused you so much pain you just want to part ways? Well refusing to give up is love. In this case, handling the conflict is tough love; it actually hurts but it’s worth it! Ever let your friend screw up by not correcting them because you were afraid to disappoint them? Well you should know you did not protect them, love always protects. They may not realize you are looking out for them but you know you are. When is the last time you did something for someone else? Or rather when is the last time you did anything that isn’t centered on you? There are possibly tens of such scenarios. If u ask me I’d say it’s this stuff that kills our joy. We are all guilty of exhibiting these traits…but wait, threes hope.
Gerry Chapeau once said “Whatever you don’t give is lost”. If you want to find love then you have to give love. If you want to be understood, then try understanding the other person. If you want a friend then be a friend for it’s in giving that we receive. It’s in forgetting ourselves that we find ourselves. It’s in loosing that we gain. See how it all connects? Give give give! If you don’t give you won’t receive, if you don’t give its lost. The other person wont get what you refuse to give and it doesn’t bounce back at you either -
200% loss multiplied by all of us = (math people)
God would never demand of us something we cannot handle. We have what it takes.
James
In the masters Service