I might be the only person in this boat, but coronavirus is ruining my social life. I was at Walmart last night and I ran into one of my best friends Logan. We only talked for about five minutes, but it wasn’t until the short conversation that I realized how lonely I’ve been feeling. I haven’t seen my family in months. I haven’t seen my friends in months. It’s been miserable. And I haven’t realized it, but I’ve been feeling really alone. I mean, sure, it’s been subconsciously in the back of my mind this whole time. But until I saw my friend and talked with him for five minutes, it wasn’t fully recognized. Being away from all my friends and family has been hard. But I realized this morning while I was reading my Bible that I’ve never been alone. God has been by my side this whole time. Even for the past two and a half months when I’ve been stuck at home without any human contact outside of my foster family. God has been here. And since I understand how difficult it can be to remember that, I’m going to give you three scriptures that will remind you that you’re never alone.
Matthew 28:20 I am with you always, even to the end of the age This scripture is written in red in the Bible. That means it came directly from the mouth of Jesus. He spoke those words over 2,000 years ago, but they still remain true to this day. Jesus promises to be with us always. There are no limits or stipulations attached to this. He is always with us. Period. Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you. No matter what we go through, we have no reason to fear because God promises to always be with us. Especially during uncertain times like now, it can be so easy to forget that we’re not alone. When the world is suffering from a crisis, it’s not always easy to see God in the midst of it all. But He promises that He is always with us. Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of good courage … for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Friends and family may forsake you, but God never will. We are never alone because God won’t ever leave. I’ve had my fair share of situations where I felt like God wasn’t there. But He always was. And He always will be. No matter what. So be strong. Have courage. You’ll never be alone. It’s not easy being stuck at home alone. But we’re never really alone. Even when we feel like no one is around. Even when we can’t talk to or see our friends or family. God makes several promises that He will always be there for and with you. He will never leave you. You are never truly alone.
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On Wednesday I asked the question "what is love?". We looked at 1 Corinthians 13, also known as the love chapter, for the answer. In case you missed that post, you can read it here. We looked at what love is and does on Wednesday, so today we're going to be looking at the seven things that love is not and does not do. Here’s the scripture for reference.
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 dishonor others, 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. Love is not proud When I just looked up the exact definition of proud, some of the synonyms are joyful, delighted, satisfied, and glad. That doesn't sound so bad, does it? What's wrong with being joyful? Nothing. It's perfectly okay to be proud of yourself when, for example, you finish a difficult assignment or test. But pride for the wrong reasons and in the wrong things is sinful. Pride becomes sinful when you start to think that you're so much better than everyone else and that you can do everything on your own. Pride eventually leads to destruction (Proverbs 16:18) Love is not self-seeking A self-seeking person is always trying to do things that benefit themselves. They don't do things in regard to others. They're only worried about themselves and what they can gain. This is not showing love. When you love someone, you should be concerned with their well-being as well as yours. Love is not easily angered Everyone is human. We all make mistakes. But it’s important that when people make mistakes, especially people you love, you don’t explode at them for the tiniest things. As I said in the last post, patience is important for a loving relationship. Love does not dishonor others To honor someone means to put them and their needs above your own. Honor is also respect. Showing love to someone also means honoring and respecting them. Love keeps no records of wrongs If you keep a record of wrongs, that basically means that you hold grudges. I know from personal experience, grudges ruin relationships. I feel like this also ties into being easily angered. And angry person will be quick to hold grudges. Love doesn’t do that. Love does not delight in evil Someone who delights in evil is someone who enjoys disobeying God and enjoys sinning. I was once in a relationship with someone like that. And trust me when I say, it leads nowhere good. When you love someone, you should be wanting to to help them in their walk with God; and vice versa. Love never fails Ever. Even when you go through the toughest times, the people who truly love you will always be there for you. They will always support you. Always love you. Always respect you. No matter what happens, people who love each other will do everything in their power to not fail one another. I pray this mini series has encouraged and challenged you to love people the way the Bible commands us to. I know it's not always easy to love everyone unconditionally all the time, but it's what Jesus did and it's what He wants us to do. Even though it can be difficult, I believe that by using these scriptures as a guideline for what love is, we can love people the way we’re called to. On Monday, we discussed the importance of loving others like Jesus loves us. If you didn’t catch that post, you can read it here. There are so many different ways in which people show love. They’re called love languages (if you don’t know yours, I suggest taking the official test here). Today and Friday, we’re going to dive into what’s known as the Love Chapter; 1 Corinthians 13. More specifically, verses 4-8. This scripture gives us a list of what love is and isn’t, and what love does and doesn’t do. In this post, we’re going to dissect these few verses individually in order to get a clear understanding of the biblical definition of love. Today, we’ll look at what love is and what it does. Then, on Friday, we'll look at what love is not and does not do.
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 dishonor others, 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. Love is patient Relationships aren’t always easy. In any type of relationship, you have to have patience with the other person. If you love someone, you shouldn’t be quick to anger. No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes. Be patient with people; especially the people you love. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Being patient shows love. Love is kind Kindness is imperative. If you love someone, you shouldn’t be putting them down and constantly being rude to them. There’s nothing wrong with a little teasing. My best friend and I love each other, and we’re constantly teasing each other. Some people might see it as mean, but we understand each other’s humor. We realize that we’re not being cruel to one another; we’re just messing around. But make sure you know that there’s a very fine line between innocent teasing and being mean. Love rejoices with the truth It was a little difficult for me to come up with an explanation for this one, but I think I finally got it. I believe that when the writer of this chapter said "truth", they were talking about the Bible and doing right by the Bible. I believe that “rejoicing with the truth” means helping each other follow God and His plan for your life. I believe it also means truth in the literal sense. If people are claiming to love each other but are also constantly lying to one another, that’s not really showing love. Love always protects In the context of this scripture, protect can mean multiple different things. While it can mean protecting one another in the physical sense, I believe it goes deeper than that. I believe it means protecting the people you love in the emotional and mental sense. Protecting their walk with God. Protecting their purity if it’s a romantic relationship we’re talking about. Protection comes in many different forms and means many different things to different people. The bottom line is this: people who love each other should and will protect each other. Love always trusts You can't have love without trust. Trust is difficult to gain, but so easy to lose. For me, trust lays the foundation for love. In my personal relationships, trust always comes before love. A strong, loving relationship starts with trust. Love always hopes Love never loses hope. In impossible situations, during desperate times, even when it seems like there’s no way out, the people who love you will remain hopeful through it all. They’ll do everything they can to help you retain that same hope. Love always preservers The definition of persevere is: "Continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success." In any type of relationship where love is involved, you guys are going to push through. Even when it’s difficult. Even when one of you is ready to give up, the other will be there encouraging you to persevere. I hope this post helped to give you a better understanding of the Bible’s definition of what love is and what love should do. I also pray that it has challenged you to start loving people in the way the Bible commands, even though it isn’t always easy. Come back Friday to dissect the rest of the verse. The last part of our series is about love. I’ll be talking about the importance of love as a prerequisite for Wednesday and Friday’s post explaining what love is. My grandmother was one of the most loving people I’ve ever known. Regardless of who you are or where you came from, she loved you as if you were family. People in the church who weren’t biologically related to our family called her Grandma for that reason. It’s always amazed and inspired me how willing she was to just show love to everyone. I aspire to be like her; someone who people look at and say, “She’s just so loving.” The Bible is full of love. Jesus loves us unconditionally. Not only that, but He calls us to love others with that same unconditionality. Not just our friends. Not just our family. Not just the people who are nice to us. Not just the people we like. Everyone. Even—no, especially—our enemies. Since that’s a lot easier said than done, here are five scriptures to help you achieve that level of lovingness.
Proverbs 3:3-4 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. We’re supposed to carry love around with us always. We’re supposed to keep them in our hearts constantly. We do that, and we earn the favor of both God and man. In my opinion, loving my enemies is a very small price to pay for the favor of God. 1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us. God loved us. While we were sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He loved us so much that He came to this world to die a sinner’s death, even though He was a perfect, innocent Man. The least we could do is show that same love to others. 1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Of all the commands in the Bible, loving each other is the one that’s above all the rest. It covers a multitude of sins. It’s that powerful. Love drives people to do crazy things. Don’t just love on the surface level. Love deeply. Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Love is honor. We’re called to honor others above ourselves. To love others above ourselves. It’s what Jesus did. It’s what He does. And it’s what He instructs us to do. Mark 12:29-31 The first commandment is this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. The two greatest commandments in the whole Bible are about love. That should say a lot to you. It says a lot to me. Clearly, love is extremely important. Because of all the commands in the Bible, the ones about love are the greatest. We’re called to love our neighbor as ourselves. Love your neighbor above yourself. Love is a word that gets thrown around a lot. But it shouldn’t. Anyone who knows me really well knows that I do not use the phrase “I love you” lightly. If I tell someone that I love them, I mean it with everything in me. Other than family members, I can count the number of people I’ve said those three words to on one hand. It’s just not something I feel should be thrown around. The Bible makes it clear that love is sacred. It’s valuable, and it should be treated as such. I know that showing unconditional love to people is no small feat. But it’s what Jesus did without thinking twice about it. And it’s what we were put on this earth to do. Join me Wednesday and Friday to dive into 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in order to really understand what love actually is. My grandmother was a very easy person to talk to. I used to talk to her about my friendship problems all the time because she always had great advice. Forgiveness was something that she really helped me with. She would always tell me, “Forgive like you’d want to be forgiven.” That’s not always an easy thing to do. Forgiveness is one of those things that we always want, but aren’t so quick to give away. But it was, and still is, one of Jesus’ biggest messages. Jesus is the Ultimate Forgiver. He forgives unbelievers and christians alike without a second thought. It’s so natural for Him; we see that all throughout the Bible. And we, as Christians, are called to be like Christ. That includes forgiving others unconditionally. Here are a few scriptures that will show you how important forgiveness is to God.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. We are commanded to forgive others just as God forgave us. God is a merciful God. There is nothing we could do that God wouldn’t forgive us for. No sin is too great. No shame is too much. God will forgive us for any and all of it. We should be willing to do the same for others. Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. In case the commandment above wasn’t enough, here’s an incentive. If you can forgive others, God will forgive you when Judgement Day comes. However, the opposite is also true. Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus isn’t saying to forgive literally only seventy-seven times. He was making a point to Peter about forgiveness. We are supposed to forgive as many times as we are wronged. There’s not a limit on how many times someone is forgiven for messing up. Matthew 5:38-40 You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. Not only do we forgive, but we’re called to walk away. Don’t retaliate. Don’t seek revenge. Revenge is the Lord’s and His alone. Forgiveness is not an easy task. It requires us to put aside our selfish desires and put others first. It requires us to show mercy, even when we think it isn't deserved. But with lots of prayer and humility, it is possible. Remember to forgive as you’d want to be forgiven. |
MissionIn short, I started this blog because I want to give girls all over the world hope. All of the topics I write about on this blog are things that I have struggled with or am still struggling with. I want to help young women everywhere achieve freedom through Christ. Archives
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