journey onWord with us

I feel as though the last several days have been the dictionary definition of noisy gongs and clanging cymbals.  Not all the rhetoric should be judged as such but, for me, the noise has been deafening on all “sides.”  What better time to be reminded of the greatest commandment to love God and love others, and to hear how God defines love.

If you are following our daily Bible reading plan, read intentionally today.  If you are not, consider joining us in reading 1 Corinthians 13.  Read slow.  Listen as you read.  In loving God and loving others, here is what that love should look like:

• patient
• kind
• not jealous
• not proud
• not arrogant
• not selfish
• not irritable
• not resentful
• not rejoicing in any wrong word or action (even when they’re aimed at other wrongs)
• rejoicing when it sees or hears truth
• does not keep score or hold on to injury
• remains standing and steady under the weight of all things
• it’s belief is unshakable
• it never loses hope
• faithfully perseveres
• trusts always
• endures, no matter the force that comes against it

We are commanded to love our neighbor … and to love them that way.

We are not commanded to just love the neighbor who smiles at us, agrees with us or believes like us. God’s definition of love has no conditions.  There is no small print.  There are no disclaimers.

How easy it can be to chime in, whether on the opposite side of an argument or in preaching to the choir.  Always be careful to hear yourself as you’re speaking and to judge your words and heart against God’s definition of love.

Never fail in speaking truth, but be careful and mindful of whose truth it is.  Never fail in speaking truth, but never, ever fail to say so in love.