The following is an email I got this week…
"Love suffers long and kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." ~1 Cor. 13:4-7~
"And above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins." ~1 Peter 4:8~
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this time we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has give us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us." ~1 John 4:7-19~
"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion." ~Romans 12:9-16~
there are tons more but i think God is trying to tell us to love every day :)
anyway i hope you liked this (i read your blog too) and i hope things are well with you. if i dont talk to you before then, have a safe and Happy New Year hon and i will always be praying for you and the kids :) *hugs*”
My favorite part is that he reads my blog… just kidding. This got me thinking about love and one of my favorite Bible verses, Mark 12:31 “…Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." Sounds like a good idea in theory. But I got to thinking, maybe there’s an equally important message hidden in this verse.
What would happen right now if I decided to love my neighbor as much as I love myself? Assuming this means treating my neighbor like I treat myself, I would venture a guess that if I did this I wouldn’t have very many friends.
Loving my neighbor like I love myself would mean I would judge them more harshly than anyone in my life. I would speak to them without compassion or sympathy. I would call them names like “lazy” and “fat.” I would accuse them of being a bad mother on a daily, no hourly basis no matter how hard they tried. I would have no patience or tolerance for mistakes. I would expect them to know everything and attack them with a barrage of insults whenever they got something wrong or needed a little extra help. And speaking of extra help I would give them none, I would expect them to do everything all on their own and I would think much less of them for having to ask for assistance.
If I loved my neighbor like I loved myself then I wouldn’t love them very much at all. I would serve them last, always, and sometimes not at all. I would make fun of everything that came out of their mouths, telling them no one cares what they have to say, what they are saying is silly or stupid, and that they don’t have enough experience or education to go anywhere in life. I would tell them that there was no way they could survive on their own, that they are spoiled and childlike. I would fill them, full of garbage that kept them feeling sluggish all day long, I would over work them and then chastise them for being tired and refuse to allow them to rest. I would allow other people to treat them poorly and never give a second thought to how it made them feel. They would be the last person I thought of and the person who meant the least to me.
But what if I loved myself like I love my neighbor? How much different would my life be?
If I loved me like I love my neighbor I would always greet myself with a smile no matter how I felt that day. I would give myself the best I had to offer. I would encourage myself and comfort myself when I was feeling down. I would listen to myself and always be looking for needs I could meet or ways I could make myself happy. I would think I was beautiful and look for the best in me. I would remind myself of all the wonderful things about me every day so that I would never feel less than my best.
The point here is that if we are truly going to love our neighbors like we love ourselves then we should take a good hard look at how we are loving ourselves. Would your neighbor really like to be treated the way you treat yourself? The Golden Rule is true, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31 but I beg you, please make sure you are applying that rule to yourselves. Happy New Year! I hope 2011 holds all the joy and happiness you are all looking for, treat yourselves well, and make sure you set time to do things you enjoy...like reading your new favorite blog ;-)
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