Mum's know all about hope and love.
We cherish and love our children, often sacrificing our own needs to do what we think is best for them.
We have greater hopes for them which might be fueled by the hopeless things that have happened in our life.
We want them to do better, have confidence, to achieve happiness.
We hope for a blessed life for them.
But sometimes our emotions can rule and wreck our relationship with them. And we wonder what we have done wrong.
Hope and love are not about emotions. Faith is not about emotions. When you are governed by your emotions you make mistakes, you see from your perspective which is bias due to being emotionally involved.
Love is an action not an emotion. Love is seen, experienced and demonstrated.
When we are crotchety with our children we are not loving them because Love is Patient.
When we are unkind we are not showing love.
When we are jealous we put love aside.
When we brag we talk about ourselves, our achievements, what we have done. Love looks to God and what He has done in our lives.
When we are arrogant we use people to get what we want for our kingdoms. Love is servitude.
When we speak our minds no matter the consequence to the other person this is not love. Love is gracious that does not forget courtesy, tact and politeness.
When we seek what we want at any cost, demanding our own way, insisting that we are right no matter what, putting ourselves first, we throw love away. Love listens.
When we have emotional outbursts we turn our back on love. Love is not touchy.
When we total up acts against us and keep account of grudges saving them for a day of reckoning we toss love away. Love forgives.
When we delight in seeing others pay for their misdeeds, on a small or grand scale we loose sight of love. Love is righteous. Love wants us to pray for those lost souls.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.
Love and Hope are intertwined. When we love we hope for the best for all mankind. We pray for those who have been led astray from Love and petition for their home coming.
Love must draw us away from our past, our pain, our anger, our fears, our scars, from this world's view to God's empowering source of Love. Why? Because.....
When we move away from our own damaged love that is emotionally driven we can Hope for a Greater Love to occupy our lives.
Yes it is hard to be patient and kind. Not be envious or boast. Not to be proud and dishonour others. To stop self seeking. To dampen our anger and forgive so that we do not harbour grudges. Not to delight in evil being punished. These are all tough choices to make. That is why we need to pray for God's Holy Spirit to fill us with these Divine Qualities that will bring us Hope in our personal and emotional world.
We all came from Heaven as helpless babes. We all grew up picking up baggage on the way. We are called to follow God through the actions of His Son, Jesus Christ. If our God can be a servant then we too must worship Him by imitating His sacrifice. This is Love, this is our Hope.
He calls us to follow Him, are we prepared to step in his footsteps?
Each other's needs to prefer. Love is not easy, Jesus showed us that.
That is why we need the Holy Spirit to empty us of our love that is imperfect and plant instead a Sacrificial Love. It will hurt, just as the nails hurt Jesus, but the reward will be eternal life.
Yes it will be scary, but if we continue to love in an emotional way we can guarantee that a crash will inevitably happen.
God saw, experienced and demonstrated His Love through Jesus Christ.
Our hope is in the name of the Lord, who is our example.
Father God, infiltrate us with your Divine Love so that all will know we are Christians by our love.
God have mercy on me as I need the power of your love in my life. Amen
God bless
Margaret
(www.margaretk.co.uk)
Labels: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, arrogant, brag, cost, gracious, grudges, hope, jealous, kingdoms, listens, love, mankind, righteous, seek