Monday, May 6, 2013
Love is Thoughtful - Day 4 - Psalms 139:17-18
3:50 PM | 
Posted by
Dvlstx |
Love is Thoughtful. Have you thought about your spouse today? Have you thought about your relationship? Have you thought about your relationship with God lately? Do you view yourself as thoughtful?
Compare yourself now, back to yourself when you were trying to woo your spouse. Were you thoughtful then? What's different? Are you the same?
I find it very interesting that my posting of this falls on my wife's birthday and I find the very words that I am writing very convicting. In all honesty is quite hard to write this one today, but I know that if I don't write this today, I might just stop writing these. I don't know if anyone reads these, or even cares, but to me I find that writing these and getting into the word a little bit, might get me a jump start back to where I want to be.
I apologize for digressing from the topic, but today is just a very different day for me. In someways I feel that Satan is trying to pull me closer and closer away from God as I am trying to get closer and closer to God. So, I must pull through this. I mention this because the topic at hand is Thoughtful.
Each foot hold the devil gets, is one less foot hold we all have on getting to where we are going. This can be your relationship with your spouse or with God.
Psalm 139:17-18
NLT - "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
NASB - "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You."
It took me quite a while to really understand what these words were saying. But read the words carefully. God is thinking about you ALWAYS. His thoughts of you cannot be numbered. The thoughts outnumber the grains of sand. No matter when we wake up, God is always there with us.
WOW! If God is thinking about us ALWAYS, it is really hard to imagine the level of Love that God has for us isn't it?
Think way back to when you were wooing your spouse. You thought about your soon to be spouse all the time didn't you? You thought about them when you were awake, and you probably even had dreams about them. No fast forward to right this second. Are you thinking about your spouse? Are you only thinking about them, because you are reading these words and getting you to think about your spouse and how much you actually think about them?
This is really hard for me because I feel that I have lost this thoughtfulness that I once had for my wife. I love my wife beyond what words can say. But, I wonder, why cannot I not match up to the thoughtfulness I once had? Is it because of money? No, because thoughtfulness doesn't always require money. Is it time? No, because if I can find time to write this blog, I surely can find time to do something thoughtful for my wife. Is it energy? No, because if I can find the energy in my day to even straighten up one thing at home, surely I can find a shred of energy to devote to my wife.
Then what is it? I think it is in our nature to devote time, money and energy into our newly found relationship, but once we do and we become married, we find that money, time, and energy for some reason escapes us. But, does it? I don't believe it does. I think we as a society have become inundated with so many things in our life that we lose sight of one of the most critical people in our lives, our spouse.
Think about how much time you spend, "wasting time." Let me put it into perspective. Do you do any of these things on a regular basis? I know I do! Playing on your smartphone, surfing the internet, playing on your tablet/ipad, finding yourself distancing yourself from your spouse to avoid confrontation, finding ways to stay "busy" to avoid something, procrastinating on any task, etc... Me personally, I find myself saying yes to more than one item on this list.
So, what does this say about Love. Does it meant that you don't love your spouse? No. I think that it means that you need to become aware of these time wasters and attention sucking items and remove them. God is thinking about you ALWAYS. Are you thinking about your spouse ALWAYS? Is there something thoughtful that you can do for your spouse that they might not be expecting? When was the last thing you did something thoughtful for your spouse?
Love as I am learning is something that is never meant to be completely mastered. If God wanted us to completely master the art of Love, then he would never have allowed Eve to deceive Adam, or never allow the snake to deceive Eve. For if we were perfect in Love, then our lives would be perfect.
So, as I conclude a blog full of questions, I want to leave you with these thoughts. God loves you more than you could ever count. If God loves us this much, do we love God back the same amount? If God is an integral part of your marriage, do you love your spouse as much as God loves you?
Thoughtfulness is something that we have in the beginning of our relationship, but I feel digresses as we go on in live. Be it laziness, or some other reason. I think overall we just get comfortable in that relationship, and this comfort is a large part of problems that can hinder many a relationships.
Take the thoughtfulness you had when you first met your now spouse, and use it to grow your love for your wife in a new way.
I leave you today with words from one of my favorite movies, "the key to a women's heart, is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time."
Thoughtfulness dies away every second we are alive. Don't lose it.
What will you do that is unexpected?
I find it very interesting that my posting of this falls on my wife's birthday and I find the very words that I am writing very convicting. In all honesty is quite hard to write this one today, but I know that if I don't write this today, I might just stop writing these. I don't know if anyone reads these, or even cares, but to me I find that writing these and getting into the word a little bit, might get me a jump start back to where I want to be.
I apologize for digressing from the topic, but today is just a very different day for me. In someways I feel that Satan is trying to pull me closer and closer away from God as I am trying to get closer and closer to God. So, I must pull through this. I mention this because the topic at hand is Thoughtful.
Each foot hold the devil gets, is one less foot hold we all have on getting to where we are going. This can be your relationship with your spouse or with God.
Psalm 139:17-18
NLT - "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!
NASB - "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You."
It took me quite a while to really understand what these words were saying. But read the words carefully. God is thinking about you ALWAYS. His thoughts of you cannot be numbered. The thoughts outnumber the grains of sand. No matter when we wake up, God is always there with us.
WOW! If God is thinking about us ALWAYS, it is really hard to imagine the level of Love that God has for us isn't it?
Think way back to when you were wooing your spouse. You thought about your soon to be spouse all the time didn't you? You thought about them when you were awake, and you probably even had dreams about them. No fast forward to right this second. Are you thinking about your spouse? Are you only thinking about them, because you are reading these words and getting you to think about your spouse and how much you actually think about them?
This is really hard for me because I feel that I have lost this thoughtfulness that I once had for my wife. I love my wife beyond what words can say. But, I wonder, why cannot I not match up to the thoughtfulness I once had? Is it because of money? No, because thoughtfulness doesn't always require money. Is it time? No, because if I can find time to write this blog, I surely can find time to do something thoughtful for my wife. Is it energy? No, because if I can find the energy in my day to even straighten up one thing at home, surely I can find a shred of energy to devote to my wife.
Then what is it? I think it is in our nature to devote time, money and energy into our newly found relationship, but once we do and we become married, we find that money, time, and energy for some reason escapes us. But, does it? I don't believe it does. I think we as a society have become inundated with so many things in our life that we lose sight of one of the most critical people in our lives, our spouse.
Think about how much time you spend, "wasting time." Let me put it into perspective. Do you do any of these things on a regular basis? I know I do! Playing on your smartphone, surfing the internet, playing on your tablet/ipad, finding yourself distancing yourself from your spouse to avoid confrontation, finding ways to stay "busy" to avoid something, procrastinating on any task, etc... Me personally, I find myself saying yes to more than one item on this list.
So, what does this say about Love. Does it meant that you don't love your spouse? No. I think that it means that you need to become aware of these time wasters and attention sucking items and remove them. God is thinking about you ALWAYS. Are you thinking about your spouse ALWAYS? Is there something thoughtful that you can do for your spouse that they might not be expecting? When was the last thing you did something thoughtful for your spouse?
Love as I am learning is something that is never meant to be completely mastered. If God wanted us to completely master the art of Love, then he would never have allowed Eve to deceive Adam, or never allow the snake to deceive Eve. For if we were perfect in Love, then our lives would be perfect.
So, as I conclude a blog full of questions, I want to leave you with these thoughts. God loves you more than you could ever count. If God loves us this much, do we love God back the same amount? If God is an integral part of your marriage, do you love your spouse as much as God loves you?
Thoughtfulness is something that we have in the beginning of our relationship, but I feel digresses as we go on in live. Be it laziness, or some other reason. I think overall we just get comfortable in that relationship, and this comfort is a large part of problems that can hinder many a relationships.
Take the thoughtfulness you had when you first met your now spouse, and use it to grow your love for your wife in a new way.
I leave you today with words from one of my favorite movies, "the key to a women's heart, is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time."
Thoughtfulness dies away every second we are alive. Don't lose it.
What will you do that is unexpected?
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Love is Not Selfish - Day 3 - Romans 12:10
Love is Not Selfish. We come to the one that strikes fear into everyone's heart. After all aren't we all selfish by our very nature? There isn't one person I have ever met that is completely selfless. It might be the simplest thing, but deep down there is a selfish nature within all of us. So, what does this mean for love? Only bad things can come from a selfish nature existing in a love relationship.
Romans 12:10
NLT - "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other."
NASB - "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;"
The Message (a snippet) - "...practice playing second fiddle."
NIV - "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."
We have all heard of selfishness, we all practice selfishness, we all are selfish. And if you are thinking for one second that you aren't, thing about this question, "Could you give away ANYTHING you have to someone else and not feel a single sense of loss?" I am sure everyone could give away some things, but there are things that we have that we just couldn't do without. Take that coveted cell phone. Are you so tied to your cell phone that you just could never part with it, even if someone else needed it more? How about money? Are you so selfish with your money that you could never give any of it away? I bet you didn't think that you could be selfish about money did you?
Everything we have in this world, we have the innate ability to be selfish about. So, when it comes to Love, selfishness has no place in a love relationship. Sure we can have our times to be selfish to some degree (taking time for ourselves, etc...) but selfishness should not permeate our lives so much that our relationship with our spouse becomes alienated.
When was the last time that you thought first about your spouse and second about yourself? When was the last time you put your needs and wants second to the needs and wants of your spouse? When was the last time you played the second fiddle?
Take some time to reflect upon some times in your relationship, and think about some of the times when you were selfish. If you now think about that incident in the context of what God is saying above, do you think, if you had a second chance, you might do something different? It is so easy in this world to be engrossed in our own selfishness that we find it hard to look at ourselves in this light. We find it hard to come to grips with the fact that we are selfish. And even harder, we find it next to impossible to get away from our selfishness.
Put yourself I your spouses shoes next time when they are wanting to do something and you are getting a feeling of being selfish. Think about what your selfish attitude will bring to your love for each other. This selfishness can break apart relationships.
We are selfish beings. There is nothing more to it than that. but, be careful with your selfishness. There is a time and a place when it is ok to be selfish. But our selfishness should not drive how we act towards our spouse.
How have you acted today? Have you been integrated with your own selfishness, or have you taken time to be selfless in your relationsip?
>
Romans 12:10
NLT - "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other."
NASB - "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;"
The Message (a snippet) - "...practice playing second fiddle."
NIV - "Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves."
We have all heard of selfishness, we all practice selfishness, we all are selfish. And if you are thinking for one second that you aren't, thing about this question, "Could you give away ANYTHING you have to someone else and not feel a single sense of loss?" I am sure everyone could give away some things, but there are things that we have that we just couldn't do without. Take that coveted cell phone. Are you so tied to your cell phone that you just could never part with it, even if someone else needed it more? How about money? Are you so selfish with your money that you could never give any of it away? I bet you didn't think that you could be selfish about money did you?
Everything we have in this world, we have the innate ability to be selfish about. So, when it comes to Love, selfishness has no place in a love relationship. Sure we can have our times to be selfish to some degree (taking time for ourselves, etc...) but selfishness should not permeate our lives so much that our relationship with our spouse becomes alienated.
When was the last time that you thought first about your spouse and second about yourself? When was the last time you put your needs and wants second to the needs and wants of your spouse? When was the last time you played the second fiddle?
Take some time to reflect upon some times in your relationship, and think about some of the times when you were selfish. If you now think about that incident in the context of what God is saying above, do you think, if you had a second chance, you might do something different? It is so easy in this world to be engrossed in our own selfishness that we find it hard to look at ourselves in this light. We find it hard to come to grips with the fact that we are selfish. And even harder, we find it next to impossible to get away from our selfishness.
Put yourself I your spouses shoes next time when they are wanting to do something and you are getting a feeling of being selfish. Think about what your selfish attitude will bring to your love for each other. This selfishness can break apart relationships.
We are selfish beings. There is nothing more to it than that. but, be careful with your selfishness. There is a time and a place when it is ok to be selfish. But our selfishness should not drive how we act towards our spouse.
How have you acted today? Have you been integrated with your own selfishness, or have you taken time to be selfless in your relationsip?
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Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Love is Kind - Day 2 - Ephesians 4:32
Love is Kind. Here is one that you might not really think about. What does it mean to be kind? If we look up the definition of Kind it states "of a good or benevolent nature or disposition." And, if you are like me, and not a dictionary, I had to look up benevolent, since it is not in my everyday vernacular. Benevolent is defined as "characterized by or expressing goodwill or kindly feelings." So, if we look solely at the definition of the word "kind," it is pretty clear what it means. Basically to be kind is to show good nature towards others and to present yourselves as a good person to others, and one who would now show evil intentions towards them.
Ephesians 4:32, according to the NLT, says "Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." But instead of what? I think for context we need to back up and look at the verse prior and actually look at verses 31 and 32 so we can get a clearer picture.
Ephesians 4:31-32
NLT - Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
NASB - Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
The Message (just for fun) - Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
So what is this really saying? To me, kindness is a quality that we all search for in a mate. When we were first dating we wanted that guy or girl to be kind, and loving and caring. If they weren't we either got rid of them or tried to change them. Although I only really dated one person before getting married to my now wife, I don't have much experience with the changing half of this, however, my gut tells me that any attempt made to try to change someone didn't go over well. In fact there is an old adage that in order to change someone you must first change yourself. I would agree with this statement. But, I have digressed from the topic at hand. That is for another day and another series.
Kindness was something that we all wanted in a mate, in addition, we wanted kindness to be spread to your future kids and you want kindness from your friends and family. So what exactly is God trying to say here? To me I think he trying to make the point, that we all have bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, malice, and profane talk. We all do these things, or keep them in our hearts, and no one can refute that. If we were all perfect, then these things wouldn't exist in the world. However, the reality is that these things do exist in the world. And since we are not Jesus, we are all sinners to some degree.
A love relationship has no room for any of these unhealthy thoughts or actions. So, God is plainly saying that we need to "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven."
Now, I am not going to get into the forgiveness side of this as this will be discussed in Day 25. Love is one of those relationships that can be so easily broken, but can so easily be found. So, why is it so hard sometimes for us to not love someone? Why is it, that at times, we are so enamered with ire and rage, we simply find it impossible to love another human being? I think the answer is simply that we are forgetting what we have. What we have, is we have a God that loves us. We have a God, who gave his one and only son to die for us. We have a God who loves us so much that no matter what we screw up in our lives, he will always provide an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and a heart that will forgive everything we do.
So, here we have a God who can forgive us for whatever we screw up in our lives, a God who gave his only son to die for us, and a God who is so kind that he is always there with us whenever we need him. Again, I implore, why is it so incredibly difficult for us to always love one another with the same kindness. I believe that this is a result of society telling us that it is OK. Society pushes us to say, "oh you aren't happy? just get a divorce."
Think about a statement I made earlier. "Love is one of those relationships that can be so easily broken, but can so easily be found." Love is a fragile relationship. It can shatter just by uttering a few words, or just a single action. Love is, in its very nature, a beast that we are all trying to tame. But, the answer to tame this relationship is simply in what God has told us to do. Shed the unhealty ideals from ourselves and instead show the kindness and tenderness God has shown us. It is with this kindness and tenderness that our love relationship will flourish.
Love is kind, and kindness can be all around us, if we put our hearts and our minds to it. Think about God's kindness He has shown you the next time you are tempted to be bitter, rage filled, angry, or talking in profanities. Think about what God is thinking when you are doing these things. In some regards I can see God looking down on me just shaking his head saying, "tsk tsk tsk, I have shown you the light, but you still struggle with this. There isn't anything else I can do for you, you have to correct this on your own."
Love is kind, what are you going to say to your spouse the next time you are angry with them?
Ephesians 4:32, according to the NLT, says "Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you." But instead of what? I think for context we need to back up and look at the verse prior and actually look at verses 31 and 32 so we can get a clearer picture.
Ephesians 4:31-32
NLT - Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
NASB - Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
The Message (just for fun) - Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.
So what is this really saying? To me, kindness is a quality that we all search for in a mate. When we were first dating we wanted that guy or girl to be kind, and loving and caring. If they weren't we either got rid of them or tried to change them. Although I only really dated one person before getting married to my now wife, I don't have much experience with the changing half of this, however, my gut tells me that any attempt made to try to change someone didn't go over well. In fact there is an old adage that in order to change someone you must first change yourself. I would agree with this statement. But, I have digressed from the topic at hand. That is for another day and another series.
Kindness was something that we all wanted in a mate, in addition, we wanted kindness to be spread to your future kids and you want kindness from your friends and family. So what exactly is God trying to say here? To me I think he trying to make the point, that we all have bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, malice, and profane talk. We all do these things, or keep them in our hearts, and no one can refute that. If we were all perfect, then these things wouldn't exist in the world. However, the reality is that these things do exist in the world. And since we are not Jesus, we are all sinners to some degree.
A love relationship has no room for any of these unhealthy thoughts or actions. So, God is plainly saying that we need to "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven."
Now, I am not going to get into the forgiveness side of this as this will be discussed in Day 25. Love is one of those relationships that can be so easily broken, but can so easily be found. So, why is it so hard sometimes for us to not love someone? Why is it, that at times, we are so enamered with ire and rage, we simply find it impossible to love another human being? I think the answer is simply that we are forgetting what we have. What we have, is we have a God that loves us. We have a God, who gave his one and only son to die for us. We have a God who loves us so much that no matter what we screw up in our lives, he will always provide an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, and a heart that will forgive everything we do.
So, here we have a God who can forgive us for whatever we screw up in our lives, a God who gave his only son to die for us, and a God who is so kind that he is always there with us whenever we need him. Again, I implore, why is it so incredibly difficult for us to always love one another with the same kindness. I believe that this is a result of society telling us that it is OK. Society pushes us to say, "oh you aren't happy? just get a divorce."
Think about a statement I made earlier. "Love is one of those relationships that can be so easily broken, but can so easily be found." Love is a fragile relationship. It can shatter just by uttering a few words, or just a single action. Love is, in its very nature, a beast that we are all trying to tame. But, the answer to tame this relationship is simply in what God has told us to do. Shed the unhealty ideals from ourselves and instead show the kindness and tenderness God has shown us. It is with this kindness and tenderness that our love relationship will flourish.
Love is kind, and kindness can be all around us, if we put our hearts and our minds to it. Think about God's kindness He has shown you the next time you are tempted to be bitter, rage filled, angry, or talking in profanities. Think about what God is thinking when you are doing these things. In some regards I can see God looking down on me just shaking his head saying, "tsk tsk tsk, I have shown you the light, but you still struggle with this. There isn't anything else I can do for you, you have to correct this on your own."
Love is kind, what are you going to say to your spouse the next time you are angry with them?
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Love is Patient - Day 1 - Ephesians 4:2
Love is Patient. We all hear this all the time. We might hear it at a wedding, we might hear it from our spouse, we might hear it from a friend down the street. No matter where we hear it from, I can almost guarantee that everyone has heard this phrase uttered from someone, somewhere. But I ask, what does it MEAN. I mean really, what does it honestly mean.
Ephesians 4:2 - "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (NIV84)
Ephesians 4:2 - "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love." (NLT)
Ephesians 4:2 - "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love" (NASB)
During my DC class, one of my memory verses was the NIV84 version above. And while it might seem clear from that verse what it is talking about, I actually prefer the NLT wording of this verse a little better.
Love is patient, yes this is true. But what does patience mean. Patience is being able to sustain words when needed, patience is being able to withhold arguments when needed, patience is being able to trust your spouse with all your hear and knowing that they will come through. Patience is one of those concepts that people find the hardest to achieve. I say that because if you are not a patient person, how hard is it for you to hold your tongue, or withhold judgement, or hang back a little while and wait?
Every one of us is flawed in some way. We cannot deny this. No matter how we look at ourselves, you can spot something flawed about yourself. But, I bet, that you can point out many more things about others that are flawed. It is in our nature to point out flaws of others. Matthew 7:3-5 states "And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye." Why is it that we as a society are quick to point out others flaws, but yet, we fail to realize that we ourselves may have the same flaw, or bigger flaws?
So how does Matthew 7 relate to Ephesians 2? I think that in someways, we aren't patient enough. We are always quick to pass judgment on others if they are not doing something that we feel should be done sooner. But in reality, are they doing everything they can do? There comes a time and a place where the patience will wear thin, I will agree with that, however, Love in its very nature is patient. And this isn't any old kind of patience. This is godly patience.
God isn't going to chase you to become a follower. He wants followers, he doesn't want fans. So, when you are ready to accept Christ, then that is on your own terms, and in your own time. As a result, God is showing a type of patience that no one can match. How long can you wait for your friend/spouse to do something you have asked them to do? How long can you wait for your child to begin to do what you ask them to do and not to question why? How long can you wait for anything? How long can you wait for that promotion in the job you love? How long can you wait?
Love IS patient. Dictionary.com defines the word patience as follows: "the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like."
I am sure you have experience annoyance, misfortune, or pain within your marriage. I am sure you have experienced one of those items in a friendship or even a family tie. I am sure that everyone has experience one of these in just about ANY relationship you might have. But how did you handle it? Did you blow your top? Did you blow up? Did you throw a tantrum?
I think the bible is pretty clear on the road we need to take here. I think the bible is outlining a concept to us that is very easy to think about, but next to impossible to take action on. Think about how often you might have that short fuse that is just about to go off due to annoyance or misfortune. Can you put it out? Or are you going to let it go off?
Patience is probably one of the hardest concepts when it comes to Love, especially in a marriage. I don't speak of this because I am perfect.....I AM FAR FROM IT! However, I speak about patience because I feel that without patience, no marriage can survive. I feel that patience is so important that it was Day 1 in The Love Dare for a reason. I don't find it just a coincidence.
Patience. Are you patient? Are you humble enough to be patient? Are you humble enough to be gentle? Are you patient enough to show humility and gentleness towards your spouse? Are you patient with yourself?
Love is Patient, are you?
Ephesians 4:2 - "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." (NIV84)
Ephesians 4:2 - "Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love." (NLT)
Ephesians 4:2 - "with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love" (NASB)
During my DC class, one of my memory verses was the NIV84 version above. And while it might seem clear from that verse what it is talking about, I actually prefer the NLT wording of this verse a little better.
Love is patient, yes this is true. But what does patience mean. Patience is being able to sustain words when needed, patience is being able to withhold arguments when needed, patience is being able to trust your spouse with all your hear and knowing that they will come through. Patience is one of those concepts that people find the hardest to achieve. I say that because if you are not a patient person, how hard is it for you to hold your tongue, or withhold judgement, or hang back a little while and wait?
Every one of us is flawed in some way. We cannot deny this. No matter how we look at ourselves, you can spot something flawed about yourself. But, I bet, that you can point out many more things about others that are flawed. It is in our nature to point out flaws of others. Matthew 7:3-5 states "And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye." Why is it that we as a society are quick to point out others flaws, but yet, we fail to realize that we ourselves may have the same flaw, or bigger flaws?
So how does Matthew 7 relate to Ephesians 2? I think that in someways, we aren't patient enough. We are always quick to pass judgment on others if they are not doing something that we feel should be done sooner. But in reality, are they doing everything they can do? There comes a time and a place where the patience will wear thin, I will agree with that, however, Love in its very nature is patient. And this isn't any old kind of patience. This is godly patience.
God isn't going to chase you to become a follower. He wants followers, he doesn't want fans. So, when you are ready to accept Christ, then that is on your own terms, and in your own time. As a result, God is showing a type of patience that no one can match. How long can you wait for your friend/spouse to do something you have asked them to do? How long can you wait for your child to begin to do what you ask them to do and not to question why? How long can you wait for anything? How long can you wait for that promotion in the job you love? How long can you wait?
Love IS patient. Dictionary.com defines the word patience as follows: "the quality of being patient, as the bearing of provocation, annoyance, misfortune, or pain, without complaint, loss of temper, irritation, or the like."
I am sure you have experience annoyance, misfortune, or pain within your marriage. I am sure you have experienced one of those items in a friendship or even a family tie. I am sure that everyone has experience one of these in just about ANY relationship you might have. But how did you handle it? Did you blow your top? Did you blow up? Did you throw a tantrum?
I think the bible is pretty clear on the road we need to take here. I think the bible is outlining a concept to us that is very easy to think about, but next to impossible to take action on. Think about how often you might have that short fuse that is just about to go off due to annoyance or misfortune. Can you put it out? Or are you going to let it go off?
Patience is probably one of the hardest concepts when it comes to Love, especially in a marriage. I don't speak of this because I am perfect.....I AM FAR FROM IT! However, I speak about patience because I feel that without patience, no marriage can survive. I feel that patience is so important that it was Day 1 in The Love Dare for a reason. I don't find it just a coincidence.
Patience. Are you patient? Are you humble enough to be patient? Are you humble enough to be gentle? Are you patient enough to show humility and gentleness towards your spouse? Are you patient with yourself?
Love is Patient, are you?
Monday, April 29, 2013
Love is... 40 Days of Love - Introduction
A while back, my wife and our life group did a study called The Love Dare Bible Study. Some of you might have heard of it as The Love Dare was featured in the movie Fireproof. During that study, and one of the last things I did was to make up these small cards which outlined each day in a simple reminder of what Love is, and a bible reference to where it is mentioned in the bible about what Love is. For example Day 1 is, Love is Patient with a bible reference of Ephesians 4:2.
Over the course of the last year I have gotten further and further away from my time with God and spending time reading the bible. I have tried a bible reading plan, that quickly got derailed. I got derailed ever since I stopped another bible study I took through Southeast called DC. I took a break, however, my break is continuing and it is absolutely hurting me inside.
As a result, I recently found this card I made up during The Love Dare, and thought to myself, what a perfect way to try to get back into things. So, as a challenge to myself, and a challenge for something that I have wanted to do for a long time, I am going to be writing a brief blog post about each day and some thoughts I have about each verse.
I am doing this namely for myself, but I feel that anything I write, might be useful to someone else. So, if you find anything helpful, then please view it as a gift to you.
Love is such a funny thing. One minute you think you might have it all wrapped up, the next minute, it's as if you have no clue what you are talking about. We are all on the roller coaster of Love, and with each twist and turn, we always get thrown for a loop sometimes. Let's just hope that we can all get grounded on this concept of Love, albeit for a brief few minutes :)
PS. I do NOT consider myself any sort of expert on the bible, nor do I consider myself any sort of expert on Love. I am merely writing what I feel about each day, and what I get out of each day. I consider myself an average Joe writing about these passages, and putting my thoughts into a blog form.
Over the course of the last year I have gotten further and further away from my time with God and spending time reading the bible. I have tried a bible reading plan, that quickly got derailed. I got derailed ever since I stopped another bible study I took through Southeast called DC. I took a break, however, my break is continuing and it is absolutely hurting me inside.
As a result, I recently found this card I made up during The Love Dare, and thought to myself, what a perfect way to try to get back into things. So, as a challenge to myself, and a challenge for something that I have wanted to do for a long time, I am going to be writing a brief blog post about each day and some thoughts I have about each verse.
I am doing this namely for myself, but I feel that anything I write, might be useful to someone else. So, if you find anything helpful, then please view it as a gift to you.
Love is such a funny thing. One minute you think you might have it all wrapped up, the next minute, it's as if you have no clue what you are talking about. We are all on the roller coaster of Love, and with each twist and turn, we always get thrown for a loop sometimes. Let's just hope that we can all get grounded on this concept of Love, albeit for a brief few minutes :)
PS. I do NOT consider myself any sort of expert on the bible, nor do I consider myself any sort of expert on Love. I am merely writing what I feel about each day, and what I get out of each day. I consider myself an average Joe writing about these passages, and putting my thoughts into a blog form.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Christmas Time....
Jenny, the kids and i were in a kroger today, and an odd thing happened. We were buying a fair amount of baby food, and rather than check out ourselves, i decided to go to a human as it might be faster.
The checker was a young girl, who was having a chocolate craving. We knew because she was asking her coworkers if they could get her chocolate.
After she was done checking out out things i asked her a simple question, "so, whats your chocolate of choice?". Expecting her to either not respond or blow off my question, she responded with reeces. I nodded to jenny to grab one.
I gave it to her and said Merry Christmas!
She first thought i was joking, but i told her seriously to ring it up and to take it. This simple act did two things. First, it put a smile on her face. And second, it seemed to make her day a little brighter. She was so shocked, it made me wonder if anyone had done that for her.
This makes me wonder about our society. Before i begin, i understand that $1 does mean a lot, to a lot of people. But, it makes me wonder if we are so greedy as a society that we cant make someones day just by giving a little pick me up. Even if it is as simple as a candy bar. For the 89 cents it took me i was able to brighten someones day.
After all it is Christmas Time, and this is a time for giving.
Merry Christmas everyone, and maybe if you run across my path, and i am able i might just brighten your day a little with a candy bar.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Thanks again Mr. Obama - affecting Credit Scores
Gotta love the parts of this HEALTH care bill that people don't even realize are in there. Take the Student Loans, which the government will disburse and own all the monies now. I just logged into my student loan to make sure that everything went through and was greeted with this:
"- Legislation passed that eliminated the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and requires all student loans to be disbursed by the Federal Government through the Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP) effective for any loan first disbursed on/or after July 1, 2010.
- If you apply for a PLUS loan another credit check will be completed through FDLP. Multiple credit checks may adversely impact your consumer credit rating."
So not only did the Federal Government take over any new student loans to be issued, but now, just to get a loan you may have to go through MULTIPLE credit checks there by possibly affecting your credit score.
Thanks again Mr. Obama! I look forward to firing you in 2012, and removing all the democratic power in congress in 2010!
"- Legislation passed that eliminated the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and requires all student loans to be disbursed by the Federal Government through the Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP) effective for any loan first disbursed on/or after July 1, 2010.
- If you apply for a PLUS loan another credit check will be completed through FDLP. Multiple credit checks may adversely impact your consumer credit rating."
So not only did the Federal Government take over any new student loans to be issued, but now, just to get a loan you may have to go through MULTIPLE credit checks there by possibly affecting your credit score.
Thanks again Mr. Obama! I look forward to firing you in 2012, and removing all the democratic power in congress in 2010!
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