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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
Love
“. . . and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Poets write about it. Songwriters pen lyrics and spark something in our hearts. The apostle Paul tells us it is “. . . the greatest of these. . . .” He also calls love “the most excellent way.” (1 Corinthians 12:31)
Jesus tells us to “love the Lord, you God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Mark 12; 30) He also commands us to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”(Mark 12:30)
“Love” is a term we overwork. We ‘love’ to take walks. Some of us ‘love’ brownies or anything chocolate. Others of us ‘love’ ice cream. In the Greek language, there are at least three words that mean love: Filia, the love between parent and child, Eros, which is romantic love, and Agape, the wanting the best for another.
One of the gospel songs of the late 1960’s tells us “. . . and they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” But how do we show God’s love to others? As I was leaving a family restaurant recently, I had to stop and step around another customer who was in conversation with the shift leader on duty. I looked up and saw a man of a different race holding the inner door open for me. I thanked him as I went through. He then reached behind himself to open the outer door while still holding the inner one, as well. Again, I expressed my thanks. There was another woman coming through both doors behind me but I never heard anything from her as she exited the building.
People, especially Christians, should learn to be gentler in their dealings with each other and those they meet in their daily walk.
Those new in Christ become familiar with 1 Corinthians 13 very soon in their Christian walk. At the end of 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul has written on Spiritual gifts, he tells his readers, “And yet, I will show you a more excellent way." It seems that Paul believes that love is more necessary than any gift we can possess. Then he goes on to explain what love is and is not.
“Love is patient, love is kind.” Because love is kind, it can’t be rude, or looking out for itself. It doesn’t have a short fuse. Love doesn’t have a scorekeeper mentality. Love finds joy in the truth. It always looks out for another person, takes things at face value, and always looks for the best thing for someone. Love always keeps on.
“Love never fails” Words of ‘prophets’ will fail’. The knowledge of today will be supplanted by knowledge of tomorrow. Those who speak for events in the world will not always be able.
How do we communicate our love of Christ to others? How can we do better about doing it? Jesus told the teachers of the law that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Can we do this in our present society? A friend once reminded a group of us of the adage, “No one cares what you know until they know that you care.”
A pastor once suggested I read and study Psalm 139 each day for a week. I followed through and did this. It helped me with a self-esteem issue I had been having. As I have been working on this article, I feel the need to read and study this love chapter and its context chapters to see if I can find understanding about what seems to be a troublesome area in my life at present.
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 52 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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