love

'If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
but have not love,
I am a noisy gong or clanging cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and understand all mysteries
and possess all knowledge,
and if I have all faith to remove mountains,
but have not love,
I am nothing. 
If I give away all I have,
and sacrifice my body to burned,
but have not love,
I gain nothing. 


Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on it's own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice in wrong doing, 
but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never fails.'
1 Corinthians 13:1-8a


I can write beautifully and teach with great eloquence,
but if it does not yield to others out of love and reverence for Christ, 
it is of no value. 


I can have a doctorate, a PhD, and all the esteem of man in the realm of education and success,
but if my life is not lived out in love, 
it is empty and pointless. 


To love is an impossible command.
I will never be capable of loving another in a way that fulfills this scripture,
because I am a sinful, wicked woman
that loves herself more naturally  and readily than I do others.

However,
in Matthew and 1 John, I find the answer to my moral dilemma.
'And He [Jesus] said to them,
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.
On these commands depend all the Law and all the Prophets."
Matthew 22:37-40


'We love because He first loved us.
If anyone says, 
"I love God," and hates his brother,
he is a liar; 
for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen
cannot love God whom he has not seen.
And this commandment we have from him:
whoever loves God must also love his brother.'
1 John 4:19-21


To separate a love for God from a love for man is impossible. 
God is love.
A love for God and a love for others are entwined.
We cannot love God without loving others.
We cannot love others without loving God.


Father God, precious Jesus...
Thank you for loving me first. 
Thank you for not waiting for me to be worthy of your love and your sacrifice. 
Please forgive me for waiting to love others until they earn it or show they deserve it. 
God, remove this conditional love that I offer and replace it with a love that is sacrificial,
gracious,
patient,
and merciful.
Remind me sweet Jesus, that you love me in spite of myself.
I am called to do the same.
May your unconditional love continue to radically change me from the inside out
and may I understand what love looks like lived out in my everyday moments.
Thank you for the truth of Your Word;
a truth that penetrates the inner recesses of my soul
where often darkness and an intense love for self grow deeply rooted. 
Thank you that your love has promised to change all of that. 
May I never forget that to love others is to love You
and to love You is to love others. 


It is by You and for You and through You
I live and move and have my being.
Take the offering of my love 
and be glorified in me today sweet Jesus.
May the fragrance of Your unfailing love
be the aroma of my life today.
Amen


<><tce