Love is Without "Heat in Spirit"

Charity meaning love.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not
charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries,
and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily
provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things,
believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which
is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child,
I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now
I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

Love will dispose men to meekness and gentleness in their carriage toward their neighbors, and not to treat them with passion or violence or heat of spirit; but with moderation and calmness and kindness. It will check and restrain everything like a bitter spirit; for love has no bitterness in it, but is a gentle and sweet disposition and affection of the soul. It will pre- vent broils and quarrels, and will dispose men to peaceableness and to forgive injurious treatment received from others; as it is said in Proverbs 10:12, “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.”

Pursuing Love ♡ September

Colossians 3: 1-17 And so this is what I want to focus on this month. I have already been put to the test and failed! It's been rough making the adjustment of beginning the new schoolyear. It didn't help that we went to Tennessee (though worth it) and got behind on co-op work. The kids have had a heavy load putting almost 2 weeks of co-op work into one week. It has me stressed. We have had some "storms" in the house and I have felt discouraged. :( But it does show me my desperate need for the Lord and I am crying out to Him for help as a mama and a wife. I want to keep focusing on not saying anything negative to or about my spouse because, well, that is just priceless. I want to put off anger and some of the "talk" I've heard coming out of my mouth. I want to put on kindness, patience, a compassionate heart, bear with these others in my home, and forgive continually. I also want to look back at my August commitments for pursuing love and apply them. 

I was interrupted with a couple of moments to apply these things even as I wrote this post- one a fussy toddler+ and a grumpy bigger kid.I'm going to try and see these trying times as "opportunities." These are opportunities to put God's word into practice. I am praying for God to use these to grow me and to grow the ones in my home too. It is here that I believe we should love the best, to be authentic in this home, so that we can then go and show Christ's love to others outside of it. There is nowhere to hide here. These people see all our flaws, our ideosyncracies, our failures... But may this place be a place where kindness, compassion, love, forgiveness, long suffering, understanding grows more and more. May we learn to reflect and imitate Him well...someway, somehow. By His doing.

Put On the New Self

3 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ² Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³ For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christwho is your^[a] life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:^[b] sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.⁶ On account of these the wrath of God is coming.^[c] 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ⁸ But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice,slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self^[d] with its practices ¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. ¹¹ Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave,^[e] free; but Christ is all, and in all.

¹² Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,compassionate hearts, kindness,humility, meekness, and patience,¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ¹⁵ And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Pursuing Love♡August

Early in our marriage Derrick and I read the book called, "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. Derrick doesn't put a lot of stock in it now but I remember that Acts of Service and Words of Affirmation were how he best received love. As for me Quality Time and Physical Touch are equally the most important. Not growing up with a lot of physical affection, though I was loved greatly in other ways by some of my family, contributed to me not being very affectionate. Add to that the pain of life, along with not doing relationships God's way (I didn't become a believer until the age of 21), you wouldn't be able to tell that is one of my top "love languages." My mom has even been known to call me "stoic."  But it is. I feel so loved when given physical affection and that is when my cup runneth over. I am affectionate with my children but I struggle feeling comfortable giving physical affection to adults. I am usually not the one to initiate hugs unless it is with someone who consistently offers them to me. So this month I endeavor to initiate more hugs and to initiate being close with Derrick on a more consistent basis than normal and to be intentional. I also endeavor to be more intentional about my "Acts of Service" to Derrick. One more thing- When I read "The Love Dare" and implemented the very first dare, I was amazed at the bliss it brought to our marriage. So, for this month (it should be forever), I commit to not saying anything negative  to or about my spouse. However, I will talk with the Lord about anything that comes up. My one consistent blog reader has permission to hold me accountable- you know who you are!

Happy (almost) August!

My Goal This Year- to Pursue Love

We had a minor trial this year that felt like a major trial to me. It bothers me how unlovingly I responded. I definitely had a lack of love. I did have some grace-filled times of handling it well but mostly failed to trust the Lord and failed to just rest in my husband's leading. My goal this year is to pursue love. Hopefully to pursue it to my own hurt. I am partly afraid to start though because sometimes I am good to have a plan but not so good with the follow-through. :( So, little blog, please help to keep me accountable. :) This isn't scripture but Rory (thislifeilive.com) said, "If you want 'that kind of love,' you must give it first." I have been so inspired by the way they have loved each other well...to the end (as he lost her to cancer :( ) They fit "a lifetime of love" into only about 13 years of marriage. They actually went on their first date literally the day before Derrick and I went on ours. They went February 14th and we went February 15th of 2002. They were married just before us and we married on June 29th of 2002. And, besides all that, Rory surprised Joey with a vow renewal in a church for their 10 year anniversary just like Derrick did for me! Wild. All of this paralleled and we didn't even know of them until this past March when Joey died and we were on our way back from visiting Gma Joy in Kansas. I read Rory's blog aloud to Derrick much of the drive from Kansas to Oklahoma. Derrick had shown me videos of, "A Bible and a Belt" and, "That's Important to Me." I adored them at this point and then he told me about Joey dying. :( We went far back in Rory's blog to put it all together. Neither one of us had a very long courtship, that's for sure and I find it crazy that our stories parallel each other! I had to ask myself if I've done well at loving my husband in the time the Lord has given us. I want to love him better and I want to be intentional with the time the Lord is giving us. There is actually a song by Joey+Rory that is very precious called, "In the Time That You Gave Me." I really hope to begin a year that strengthens us in love and then just overflows into a lifetime (or however much time we get) of loving well. So, I'll be posting my goal for the month of August soon...It will be based on the love chapter- 1 Corinthians 13. I will write what I plan to apply from it. I am continuing to read my companion book about pursuing love by Jonathan Edwards. He was one of the greatest preachers of all time and I believe has written most extensively on 1 Corinthians 13. And so, we now begin- all the way to next August, right?? Praying, Oh my precious Lord (the One who saved me, the One that loves me with an undying- always and forever-love, the One who has a plan for me), my Abba Father,  please help me to grow in love. To love You better, my husband, and others.

Charity and Its Fruits (Jonathan Edwards)- "And after His ascension, the apostles were full of the same spirit in their epistles abundantly recommending love, peace, gentleness, goodness, bowels of compassion and kindness, directing us by such things to express our love to God and to Christ, as well as to our fellowmen and especially to all that are His followers. This spirit, even a spirit of love, is the spirit that God holds forth greater motives in the gospel to induce us to, than to any other thing whatever." 

He then talked about the most perfect and beautiful expression of love known to man, Jesus' dying on the cross and taking the punishment that we deserve- "The work of redemption which the gospel makes known, above all things affords motives to love; for that work was the most glorious and wonderful exhibition of love that ever was seen or heard of."

~When I say, "year," I guess I mean school year.

We Can Come to God as Child to a Father

"Love will dispose the Christian to behave toward God, as a child to a father; amid difficulties, to resort to Him for help, and to put all his trust in Him; just as it is natural for us, in case of need or affliction, to go to one that we love for pity and help. It will lead us, too, to give credit to His word, and to put confidence in Him; for we are not apt to suspect the veracity of those we have friendship for. It will dispose us to praise God for the mercies we receive from Him, just as we are disposed to gratitude for any kindness we receive from our fellow-men that we love. Love, again, will dispose our hearts to submission to the will of God, for we are more willing that the will of those we love should be done, than of others."
~ Jonathan Edwards

Pictures of some of the kids with their daddy.

From Charity and It's Fruits by Jonathan Edwards

"Though God orders affliction,
and low and depressed circumstances, as his lot in the world, he [man]does not murmur, but feeling his meanness and unworthi-
ness, he is sensible that afflictions and trying dispensations
 are what he deserves, and that his circumstances are actually
better than he merits. And however dark the divine dealings, with the faith which we so often see manifested in those who
are eminent in grace, he is ready to say with Job, 'Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him'(Job 13:15)."