This is Love

This is Love
The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians defined Christian love when he wrote,

“Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, 

it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

Love never fails....

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.”  

                                                         1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.

As a Christian. A believer in Christ Jesus we have no choice but to love. Jesus when asked,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
This is the first and greatest commandment. 
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40.
Thus my question to you. Do you truly love?
Please think about it.

Because

Because

Because...

“...He (God) first loved us.”

       1 John 4:19

I will...love God

Because...

“...God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 

that whoever believes in Him should not perish 

but have everlasting life.”  

John 3:16

I will...have faith in Christ, faith in God

Because...

Jesus when asked, 

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 

   Jesus replied: 

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  

                This is the first and greatest commandment.  

             And the second is like it: 

        ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  

      All the Law and the Prophets 

hang on these two commandments.” 

       Matthew 22:36-40

I will...love my God and my neighbour.

Because...

Jesus said,“You have heard that it was said, 

‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  

But I tell you: Love your enemies 

and pray for those who persecute you,” 

Matthew 5:43,44

I will...love my enemies and pray for my persecutors.

Because...

“Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  

It is not rude, 

it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

   Love never fails....

 And now these three remain: 

faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest  of these is love.”  

1Corinthians 13:4-8a,13

I will...I will love unconditionally.

                   Dear Reader
                   Will you do the same?
                                       Please think about it.

Love and Marriage A personal note

Love and Marriage A personal note.

“Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, 

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil 

but rejoices with the truth.  

It always protects, 

always trusts, 

always hopes, 

always perseveres. 

Love never fails....

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.”  

                                                         1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13

       Poets throughout the ages have tried to express what love is. Yet I believe there is no better words for describing love than the words God inspired the apostle Paul to write.
It’s a check list for true love.
We live in a society where marriage is easy and divorce is easier. Divorce statistics are unbelievably high.
I think the reason we have such high rates of divorce is that we don’t know what love is.
Love in the twenty-first century is mistaken for that bubbly feel good thing that we get around someone. It’s that wonderful feeling we get from having intimate relations with someone else.
This is not love at least in it’s entirety.
Love is there for the long haul.
I’ve been on this earth as of my last birthday sixty plus years. Almost forty of those years of which have been in a loving marriage relationship.
My wife and I have gone through the feel good stage at one end and at the other end of the spectrum we’ve been totally ticked off at each other.
We’ve done things that drive each other crazy. We still do. Never the less in the end we make up, cuddle up, and still after all of these years enjoy being with each other.
I can honestly say that I can’t remember what our last disagreement was about. I just asked my wife if she could and she couldn’t. Which shows how unimportant it was.
What we do remember is when we lived in the Toronto area going to Niagara Falls walking hand in hand for a short time before returning home, only to have to rush to the hospital so my wife could give birth to our first son.
We remember the little things, like my putting my arm around her as we sat in church on a Sunday.
When we were about to get married our pastor at the time quoted the above scriptures from 1 Corinthians to us. He reminded us that true love is not just a physical thing although that is a part of it.
He reminded us that it is a spiritual union of two souls that become one.
Over the years we have gone through a lot, good times and bad time.
The key I believe to our enduring love is not only do we truly believe the word of the Apostle Paul, but that we put them into action in our lives daily.
Please think about it.