“ 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” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (NIV)
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” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (NIV)
Okay,
so let’s check them off. I
am . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
þ
Patient
þ
Kind
þ
Not
an envier
þ
Not
a boaster
þ
Not
proud
þ
Not
rude
þ
Not
self seeking
þ
Not
easily angered
þ
And
I keep not record of wrongs! I’m
neither hysterical nor historical! (although
my mother should have
been a history teacher)
þ
Not
one to delight in the mess that others get themselves into
þ
And
I just love it when the truth comes out!
Wow!
11 checked boxes! I’m pretty good at this love thing!
Or not.
Improvement
in anything always starts with seeing clearly where you actually are.
Spouses, siblings and parents are usually pretty good at making that
assessment.
Your friends?
Probably not so good.
God’s good at that too.
In fact God gave us this checklist as a mirror to help us see ourselves
more clearly.
So,
now that you’ve self assessed in God’s crystal clear mirror, the next thing
is to go into training.
It’s practice, practice, practice, practice and more practice until . .
. . . when?
. . . .until your last breath.
Here’s
something I concluded years ago and it has been an encouragement to me.
I discovered that I fail in trying to achieve almost any virtue that I
set out to gain.
There’s a pattern.
I practice and then fail, practice and then fail
However there’s another thing present.
I always get up and begin all over again.
As the years mount up I discover that this repeated series of failures is
in reality a repeated series of fresh starts which have themselves become a consistent
practice of the pursuit of the virtues.
The Good News is that repeated fresh starts, repeatedly getting up one
more time than i fall is a beautiful picture of the Christian Life and is itself
and pattern of committed love and of God’s persistent work in my life.
For more:
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