It is a beautiful day, Father, and I want to thank You for helping me focus on You! There are still challenges, but in You, I can handle them!
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (<<click here to read the passage)
This particular portion of 1 Corinthians 13 is often read in wedding ceremonies. As I mentioned yesterday, it’s known as the Bible’s “love chapter.” It’s an inclusive list of what love is and is not.
I have not perfected what this portion of Scripture calls me to. I strive to do so, but parts of my brain often get in the way, and those parts are triggered when other people’s brains cross with mine. Those people can be total strangers, but more often than not, they are people who are close to me – maybe “work” or “church” close or, more challengingly, “family” close.
I think we’d all admit, all in all, it’s not too difficult to love people we don’t know. We have compassion for those in pain or other difficult situations. (On the other hand, it is just as easy to despise people we don’t know, say when they cut us off, say something that offends us, or are on the “wrong” side of political party lines!) But even in those circumstances, some of us can slap a mask on our face, and we can pretty readily come off as nonplused, containing our anger or disdain.
It gets a little more tricky in our interactions with people who are “work” or “church” close to us. They know us, we know them…but only to a certain degree in most cases. Some friends are closer than others, but not too many of us bare our souls to just anyone. Those kinds of friends are few and far between because it’s more challenging to trust…to put ourselves out there. Honestly, it can be dangerous to do so. Sharing our deepest thoughts and issues can have severe repercussions if they get into the wrong hands.
Now, family…that’s a whole other level of rewarding and problematic love. One of the greatest testing grounds for familial love is that we often know each other so well that we hold back very little…of nothing at all. The only thing that (greatly) surpasses the love of a mother – as just one example – is God’s love for us. But I would dare say that even the most loving of families and the most loving of relationships in those families are challenged to love unconditionally.
Putting myself out there a bit, I love my wife, my son, my mom and dad, my sister, my niece, amongst all the many other family members that I have…but if there is anybody who doesn’t see that love as often as they should, it is them. Often, they are taken for granted. Too many times, things come out of my mouth that I would never say to a work associate or someone at one of my churches, but they come out when parts of my family’s brains cross with mine.
Part of our problem is that we know each other so well that we too quickly fill in the blanks. We assume that even though things aren’t said, they want to say or are at least thinking those things. Our brains cross, and conflict is amiss. And it may not even be a real thing!
Truthfully, it needs to be more of a goal for all of us on all fronts. God is love (1 John 4:16) and if we are followers of Him and striving to be like Him, then we should diligently be working out our love for one another.
Dec 12th, 2023, Tue, 12:52 pm
