Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Love is... not self-seeking

1 Cor. 13:5 “it is not self-seeking”

This April has been an eventful one. At the beginning of the month my husband and I packed up our belongings and moved across the country. I love our new little place, and have been enjoying setting up house once again. At the same time, it’s been tough without friends or family close by. My husband truly is my only friend within a hundred miles. I’m depending on him like never before to fill all of the relationship gaps in my life. In 1 Corinthian 13:5, Paul tells us that love is not “self-seeking,” but I have to admit that that is exactly how I am from time to time. When my husband gets home from work at the end of the day, I want him to listen to me and get things done around the house. I want him to do the things “I” want him to do. I’m not necessarily putting his needs before my own. But putting his needs first is exactly what unselfish love looks like. As Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
This is what love is.

Prayer: Lord, help me to love unselfishly today. Reveal areas of my life that need changing, so that I can love those in my life whole-heartedly.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Love is... not rude

1 Cor. 13:5 “It is not rude”

It's hard to believe that seven months have passed since I married the love of my life. Overall they have been months of newlywed bliss. On most days life seems perfect. I can say that we really are one of those almost sickly happy couples.
At the same time, we are anything from perfect. When we're tired and cross, the less than beautiful sides of our personalities come out. When we're both tired, we become sharp with each other. And so tempers flair, things are not thought through, and we are out to deliberately hurt each other. We're discourteous, self-serving, and hurtful all rolled in one. We are rude instead of loving. These are the moments when I sometimes need to take stock and consider how I'm treating this most important person in my life.
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:5 that love is "not rude." Instead, it's considerate and makes rooms for faults on those not-so-perfect days. This is an area I need to improve on, how about you?