Love is a Verb
Life can be a mess, can't it? Full of heartache, anxiousness, to dos and busyness. Can you relate? The struggle is real! And there are times when in the middle of the storms that I find I am not at my best, and I am forced to ask myself what is the world around me seeing? What image of "Christ" am I portraying? If there is one thing I know for sure, it is that if anyone spends even five minutes with me they will find out I love the Lord. But what I can be so unsure of at times, is whether or not my actions are always projecting the same!
The word of God tells us in John 13:35, “By this all men will know you are My disciples, if you love one another". I love how Christ includes the word all in this verse, it was not on accident, that is for sure! I have to stop and ponder who would recognize me as Christ’s disciple and who would not based on the love that I had shown them. How about you? Who would know you as Christ’s disciple and who would not? Would your neighbor? How about your best friend? What about the clerk at the grocery store or the driver who cut you off on the road? What about your family? Family is a BIG one, especially for us wives and mothers! Our first ministry given to us from God is to our husband and second to our families. No one goes behind the kitchen doors of our life like our children and our spouse. I often find that while we can preach a very good song and dance with our words, our actions and our attitudes can give a completely different story, especially with those who love us most!
Home is where it is easiest for us to let our hair down, as it should be! However, it is at home where we might tend to be a little lax with our godly love towards our family. At home it is easier to get upset or raise our voice. At home it is easier for us to look at our husbands, after a long days work, getting our family fed and kids tucked into bed, and not have any time for them because we are just too tired. If our first ministry is to our husband and our second is to our family, how are we doing? What report card would you give yourself? God said “all” men would know us as His disciples by the love that we show them, that selfless, patient, giving, sacrificing love of the cross! What a shame it would be for those outside our homes to know us as Christ’s disciples and for those closest to our hearts to question if it is really true.
Home is where it is easiest for us to let our hair down, as it should be! However, it is at home where we might tend to be a little lax with our godly love towards our family. At home it is easier to get upset or raise our voice. At home it is easier for us to look at our husbands, after a long days work, getting our family fed and kids tucked into bed, and not have any time for them because we are just too tired. If our first ministry is to our husband and our second is to our family, how are we doing? What report card would you give yourself? God said “all” men would know us as His disciples by the love that we show them, that selfless, patient, giving, sacrificing love of the cross! What a shame it would be for those outside our homes to know us as Christ’s disciples and for those closest to our hearts to question if it is really true.
God gives us an entire chapter of what his love looks like…one of my favorite chapters in the entire bible, I Corinthians 13.
I Corinthians 13:4-7 reminds us, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
May we be able to be an example of love to all men, even when they are hard to love, even if they give us more grace because they call us mom! Let our prayer be today that we would be slow to speak, quick to listen, patient and not easily angered. That we would be the example of God's grace for our children to model after.
May we be able to be an example of love to all men, even when they are hard to love, even if they give us more grace because they call us mom! Let our prayer be today that we would be slow to speak, quick to listen, patient and not easily angered. That we would be the example of God's grace for our children to model after.
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