Love is patient, Love is kind.....

I had to stop and write. Anytime I'm studying, and I get slammed between the eyes with a truth, I try to stop and record it in some way. And this one was a sledgehammer:

I'm reading the book 'Crazy Love' by Francis Chan. The entire book is challenging, convicting, and a true wake-up call, especially to churches. It causes you to go through a lot of (sometimes painful) self-examination. Tonight in my reading, he writes out this passage. Maybe you've heard it a time or two:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8


I've seen this verse on hanging on walls. I've seen it on coffee mugs. It was even recited at my wedding. But here is the challenge he put forth. Put YOUR name in the place of the word 'Love'. (Amy is patient, Amy is kind...) Convicting.


I admit, I often fail at this. Some parts are easy: loving the ones that you love, for example. But Jesus said, if we are to follow Him, to love even our enemies. I'll even take it a step farther.
 
Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.  1 John 2: 4-6

Jesus says the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God above all others and secondly, to love everyone else. Then he gives such a rich, vivid description of what love is. A step beyond that, we are told that our love for God is truly made complete when we obey His word. And you obey him because you love Him. That's a lot to chew on. That will be digesting for a lifetime. My challenge to myself is to constantly put my name in that Bible verse in all that I do, through the help of the Holy Spirit.

Here was my last revelation: God. Is. Love. All of those definitions Jesus gave us of what love is.....that's our God. How thankful I am that when I fail (often) to love and obey the way He has called me to do, that God CAN put his name in the place of 'love' and never fail to meet any of those qualities. And that is how much he loves each and every person. It is because of revelations like these, as I study Him and His word, I fall in love with Him all over again every single day.

Amy Edwards