"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)
"When I meet someone, this is the kind of person I hope to discover: someone who is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perserveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)
I am easily impressed by the wonderful qualities of other people, so much so that I become overly deferential and even small in their presence. But when I walk away from an encounter with another, even when in awe at his or her status or abilities, if I have not left with a sense of their kindness and humility, I will have left with a hole in my encounter with them.
On the other hand, when I meet someone who is kind and humble I am always impressed, regardless of status or accomplishments.
Faith to move mountains amazes me. Unshakeable hope is wonderful. Both are huge. But for me, it's so true. . . .love expressed in all the little ways of verses 4-7 is the best of all. In fact without it, faith and hope are. . . . . . . .well, let the Bible speak for itself:
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV)
Lord, prevent me from being a clanging cymbal, or worse, nothing.
This is the chapter and verse I have been studying for awhile now. I also typed, printed it out and taped it to my bedroom wall so that every morning when I wake up, I see it, read it, and inspire to be it. This is by far my favorite chapter and verse. This is how I define love, well, how love should be. I try to have patience, kindness, trust, not be selfish, etc. I do pretty good for awhile then I end up disappointed at myself when it comes to showing it to my husband or kids. I tend to run out of patience with them at times and then when I go to cool down in my room I end up in tears thinking about how I failed to show them "God's" love. I want nothing more to have perfect love and to be loved perfectly, as it says in Corintians 13. But, where I messed up was how I thought. I thought that if you really loved someone you would just automatically love that person or people in that "perfect" way with no work involved. Now I know better. As with anything, it takes work for most to perfect some things (even then we are never perfect cause only God is). I have to work at showing my husband/kids/family patience, kindness, endurance, and trust. I have to continue to put them and their needs in front of my own. I need to learn to walk away from a fight and not say hurtful things back or even repay those hurt words with kind words. I need to keep in my head that when I get angry at my husband I cant yell out the long list of all the things he has ever done wrong. If I keep this up for awhile and continue to pray and ask for Gods help with it, then eventually it will not be something I have to work so hard at. I know God will fill my heart with that "perfect" love I want so bad, but I have to do my part too.
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