The Love of God

1^st Corinthians 13 gives us one of the clearest descriptions of what real love is going through a list of characteristics that shame our limited attempts at demonstrating love to others.

Love is…

Patient

Kind

Does not envy

Does not boast

Not proud

Does not dishonor others

Not self-seeking

Not easily angered

Keeps no record of wrong

Does not delight in evil

Rejoices with the truth

Protects

Trusts

Always hopes

Always perseveres

Love never fails.

In our hearts there is this God-given desire to love. In spite of the pain and heartbrokenness that we may have experienced, we still desire to love and love deeply. There’s a desire to open up your heart and let a person come in and be vulnerable with them. I’m learning slowly but surely what God’s love is like through my life experience and I’ve gotten a glimpse of what His love means.

His love always hopes. Despite the rejection and apathy that we show towards the sacrifice of Jesus. Despite the constant walking away from Him, He continues to hope that we will open the door of our hearts and let Him in. He hopes that His still small voice with shake the innermost parts of our souls and would embrace His love.

His love always perseveres. It is a love that will not give up because it desires the best for us. A love that carries on loving us when we are at our weakest. A love that gently, continuously and persistently calls our name. A love that will not be defeated!

The love of God, a love that NEVER fails!

I may fall short of the mark. I may be the cause of pain or suffering or be the receiver of it but His love will never fail me. It’s a love not dependent on what I do. It's a love that call me to fight and never give up on the one you love. I personally hope that the love that I give may be a love that aims to be at the standard of God’s love for me.

“To love at all is to be vulnerable”

-C.S. Lewis

Story Telling

This Labor Day weekend I spent it catching up with old friends at Camp Blue Ridge. I was expecting to fill them in on my life and get caught up with theirs. Many I hadn’t seen in a really long time and others make it a point to keep tabs on me (they know me well to do so). Yet, the experiences that we had could not be scripted.

Saturday was such a blessing. Conversations and prayers lead to what was one of the most memorable moments of camp. 

Sharing with people my story and hearing theirs is one of the most impacting things that we can do. I wish I could share with you the things that were spoken but I do not have permission to share such intimate details of God working on people’s lives.

I learned that we are all broken in one way or another. I saw how difficult it is to look at our scars and relive the moments that hurt us the most. I saw tears pour out as the pain, even if it was long ago, was still very much present in our hearts. I witnessed the power of the comfort of God. I experienced the fulfillment of Jesus’ words “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

I learned that God is not done!

Each one of us is a supporting actor in the story of grace. Jesus is the lead actor. He is our knight in shinning armor. He is the hero that is always there to come to our rescue.

Jesus is the eloquent writer of the story of our lives. He is the novelist that infuses passion and dedication to his “Magnum Opus” that is our lives and the fulfillment of His infinite love.

God is not done! The story doesn’t end with pain, fear, suffering or death. Hebrews 12:2 states that Jesus is the “founder and perfecter of our faith,” meaning that he writes our story through His sacrifice, a story that always has the perfect ending; Jesus writes our “happily ever after.”

Your story does not have to end today. Jesus wants to take over the pen of your life and write a beautiful ending to it. You see, story writing is not our job, it’s God’s job. It may be hard to see where he is going in the course of the various chapters of our lives but he knows where he is going with it.

Spoiler Alert!

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more… He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:1, 4) 

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."

-Maya Angelou