Recently, God has been directing my attention back to love. Not just the command that we are to love Him first and in turn, love others, but actually what love means, and what it’s very definition requires of us as Christians. It is a huge concept which is nearly unfathomable in my opinion. In 1 Corinthians 13, love is explained in detail; and if taken seriously, it is a huge task to take on.
It says love is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easliy angered, doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, rejoices in truth, always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.
I was thinking about this a little today. As I was thinking about it, I thought to myself that there is no way on my own that I could possibly display all of these traits daily. It would be impossible probably for me to even display all of these traits to one person for even one day. So, I guess God has just been showing me that I need to stay humble. Without His presence and Spirit overflowing out of my life, none of this will be possible… Loving Him and loving others requires that I acknowledge this perfect love that He has shown me and then respond to Him by allowing Him to have all of me. He has to be my focus and I have to be open and vulnerable to Him and to His voice. I know it is easy for me to get sidetracked and loose focus… It’s something everyone hears talked about, and if honest, probably experiences. A lot of times I can get complacent about my life and even compare my spiritual journey to others, and think to myself, “I’m not doing as bad as they are” or something of that nature. However, that’s not the point at all. God hasn’t called you or I to be judges of others or to compare ourselves, but to go directly to Him and feed directly off Him. The severity of this issue is just undeniable to me. I can’t just go through the motions of my spiritual journey and expect to fulfill the mission God has for me… And if I’m not fulfilling God’s mission for me, then what in the world AM I doing? Probably nothing significant. I must be completely engulfed and overthrown by Him. It’s such a simple concept, but yet the most crucial to being an effective follower of Jesus.
It’s overwhelming to me to think about all of these attributes existing in my life when I’m communing with others, but that’s point… For me to get overwhemed and to give up and let God be the instigator.
