Love is...

Sitting by the pond in our neighborhood yesterday, I noticed that everywhere I looked they were geese around me, all in two's, swimming together, eating together, flying together...it was kind of a cute sight. (I know some of you are laughing because you are fully aware of my strong dislike for winged creatures...but I had to admit it was pretty sweet to see.) Anyway, so I'm sitting with my goose friends, watching the sun dance on the water, and talking with God about some really big things for my future. I can only imagine what He thinks sometimes when I plop down on a rock, journal open and ready to just pour everything out...I wish I could see what that looked like to Him. A moment of total surrender and vulnerability, or a moment of frustration and learning. I tend to think it's both. :)


What would your answer be if someone asked you how you love?

I had no answer to this question as I watched the water and the geese. For a moment I spouted off a list of the typical answers, "I give, I serve, I help people..." and then I stopped and began to think. God has a tendency to shut me up on my rants and masked answers. There's a sense of transparency that comes through when you stop and listen to Him for awhile. :) "What is the source of my giving, of my serving? Why do I say I love? Do I show it enough? Am I loving without conditions and pretenses?" I sat in silence for a loooong time. Then I finally just said, "Lord, I don't even know if the love I say I have can be justified but I am not content in staying in my selfish ways of love..."

And I have a feeling He silently agrees with me.

Oftentimes, people refer to 1 Corinthians 13 as the "love and relationships" passage. The part of the Bible that tells you how to love your significant other. And this is a GREAT passage to go by in relationships, because we are commanded to love as Christ loved the Church and to show that love to each other. However, this does not just apply to relationships. It applies to everyone. Every living, breathing human out there. Whether they are living in the slums of India to the most beautiful mansion in London. We are to love everyone. I made the mistake of secluding this passage to just me and my future groom. To someone I'd one day want to give my heart to. And I learned that while that is good to do, I can't just decide how to love each and every person I come into to contact with differently. Jesus never held back and neither should we.

So I've decided to dissect this passage for the next 15 weeks. Each week I'll write a new blog about how I'm learning to love passionately and abundantly. I'm really excited to see what God has in store to teach me! And I really encourage feedback and even participation in this along with me! I'm approaching this crucial lesson with an open and humbled heart. Because I know His love is what I need to satisfy my own desires and sometimes dusty heart, to change my thinking and to grow in faith and in grace. I'm ready. :) ("Love is patient" will be posted by this Friday and from every friday and new one will come each week.)

I'll leave with this:

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.