Love - The Compass

1 Corithians 13 - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but I do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast,1 but do not have love, I receive no benefit.

 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I became an adult, I set aside childish ways. For now we see in a mirror indirectly,but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

OK OK  - My last post was quite negative and held all the trappings of a pity party. For that I apologize. I said from the start that this would be an up and down journey. Sometimes I will lose my way. BUT I pray that this post will be a guiding light to you as well as to myself to regain our direction....

Maybe we are, too often,  looking at things from the wrong perspective. What if we were to try and put a positive spin on our circumstances? All through the history of the Bible, God shows us by words and actions that LOVE provides us with direction and purpose. Once we get past looking inward and start looking outward at others, we can fulfill our mission and personal ministry in life. Our motivation should be the caring for our neighbors in a positive way.

How many times have your parents said stuff like "Don't do this" or "Don't do that"? What is our FIRST impulse? .. We want to DO it, right? It is the same in our spiritual life as well. When God's gave Moses the 10 Commandments, what has been people's inclination? Yep! We broke them all. Jesus gave us the SAME 10 Commandments wrapped up in 2. (Love God with all your being and Love your neighbor as you love yourself) . HE re-worded it into a POSITIVE ACTIONcommand. Not to avoid something, but to DO something good in it's place and then we would not have the time to do the bad stuff. Maybe we can take our cue from that philosophye and approach everything in a positive light. If you have to clean the toilets, make them the cleanest toilets in town. Approach a friends with love and understanding and not judgements. Find PRODUCTIVE ways to handle disagreements. That is the way of fulfilling your life's purpose. That is the way you reflect God's Love for you (by reflecting your love for God and HIS creations).

I think that if I (and others) follow that direction, then we can traverse our challenges and make friends along the way. A 1,000 mile trip with a friend is shorter than a 100 mile trip alone.

Note to Self: Be guided by Love, trust in the Lord and ENJOY the trip.

Proverbs 3:5.6 - Trust in the Lord With all thine Heart and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths.

Until the next time - God Bless You and Yours

Gene