Love

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I had written!  You get into the routine of doing things and before you know it an entire month has passed.  A lot has happened in this past month.  The most notable thing was that I began homeschooling in an attempt to prepare the children for the curriculum they would began with the Hillsborough (Tampa, FL) school district early April.  It was truly a blessing as we were allowed to enroll in their district via a virtual school program while still living in Minot.  I was in awe when their curriculum arrived because I knew how much it cost and I knew it was free. Everything was set in motion when without warning our orders were cancelled.  I would be lying to say it wasn't a blow but hey this isn't what this post is about.  I went through a lot of questioning and did receive understanding and answers from God, but I will share that in another post if it is something that the Lord wants me to share.  In this post I want to focus on love.

At the core of my being is love but I want it to radiate from my being so intensely  that anyone who comes in contact with me can't help but to feel it.  I have discovered that love is the core to success in every area of your  life.  I know, it might sound a bit strange but it is so true.  God is love and we only know love because He first loved us.  Christ died for us because of love and God instructs us to become more Christ-like. Love is pleasing to God because it requires one to act and it is selfless.  Love isn't a feeling; though we experience feelings as a result of love.  Love is a choice.  You can either give it or you can withhold it.  I want to genuinely care for others.  I do care for others but I want it to be more than a feeling or a passing thought, I want it to be an action.  God blesses those who are pure in heart and you cannot get much purer in heart than to love.

Paul said it best in I Corinthians 13:1 "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² 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 do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."  So, you see love is the key to success.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. So, one must naturally assume that faith is a big deal to God. However, I Corinthians 13:13 Says these three remain, "faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love." God puts love above all. 

Love requires that you love even when the person doesn't seem lovable, when the situation doesn't seem fair.  I understand all too well that this isn't easy.  But, I ask you to think about God.  Think about all the people He loves in spite of all the ugliness that they do.  Some people eventually allow God to change their hearts and sadly some do not.  In all my years as a Christian I have learned that you cannot concern yourself with what the other can do, you can only be and do what God has called you to do.

So, I want to love unselfishly, and in spite of what others may do or say.  I pray that with Holy Spirit's guidance I can love, genuinely and with a pure heart.