While this is said often and it is definitely true: sometimes you can read something that you have read 20 times before and the 21'st time you finally get it. I finally got 1 Corinthians 13 last week. It finally resonated in me. Not only the fact that God is love and love resonates from Him, but the fact that all love is seriously legit. It is like the navy seal of characteristics.
4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].
I am at the same time in awe of the fact that God loves me and therefore feels all those things for me, and in awe that I fall so terribly short of that example. I started to play out what love looks like in life and it was so different than what I thought.
For example while trying to go to sleep one night last week I was thinking of something someone said that offended me slightly. Awesome, right? While I was thinking about this person and how I felt about them at that moment suddenly 1 Corinthians 13:7 came up in my mind and shouted "love is ever ready to believe the best of every person". Like the snap of fingers my offense and bad feelings totally changed as I applied love to them. I am terrible at believing the best of certain people. No matter the reason that completely sucks and is not love. But once I applied that definition of love in that certain situation and I allowed God to give me his love to love with - everything changed. The premise that love conquers all started to really come alive as I realized how powerful love really is.
Recently I have been really intrigued by getting to know God for no other reason than just to have more intimacy with Him. While this should be the goal of all our walks with God, for me it is just God getting me to the next level of maturity. I have realized that God really is everything that we are searching for. He creatively explains who He is all throughout scripture and somehow I have missed certain parts of Him while growing up.
Isn't it cool to think that God is always ready to believe the best of us even when He knows our hearts?
Today the part of love that I need to apply to life is: loves hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. God is enduring. His love for us is enduring. His dreams for us are enduring. His hope in us is enduring. His love should translate into our life allowing us to have hopes that endure all circumstances. Sometimes life can hand us some pretty crazy circumstances to endure through and enduring can be hard. But we are loved by love himself who can hope for us and give us hope.
The past six months have handed Chris and I a pretty awesome set of circumstances that have done their best to knock the wind out us. Yet, God gently reminds us that he is love and love's hopes are fadeless and enduring all circumstances. He is our provider and protector and our Daddy. He is plain cool :)
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