So i figured that I shouldn't delay any more so i will continue on my love series. Hold on to your hats, because here it goes.
Love is kind. There is a seeming synonym to kind, and that is nice. Nice doesn't really mean anything. You use it to talk about something that is not inherently bad but you don't have any great praise for it. It may even be used to describe someone, like that boy/girl is nice, but it is one of those overused words that should be avoided. Love is not nice, it is kind. Being kind means that there is a goodness about you that makes you stand out to others around you. Kindness describes those that go out of their way to do something for others more than themselves. Being kind is genuinely caring and is part of your character. Kindness is pretty much essential if we as Christians are to love other people. It is not an option and should penetrate in to every area of our lives.
Think about the last time that you gossiped, or allowed yourself to be annoyed by someone, or complained about something or someone like the world owed you something. Is kindness penetrating THAT area of your life? Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to envelop you and guide your actions? Or are you content to being kind to others when it benefits you the most? I encourage each of you to look inside yourselves, as I will also do, and let the Holy Spirit do a work in you that kindness may indeed penetrate every area of your life. In so doing, you will be one step closer to exhibiting true Godly love in your life.
Sincerely yours,
Greg
Friday, December 11, 2009
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Love...Is Patient
I admit that this has been long overdue and I felt especially inspired tonight so I'm gonna start this new series on the attributes of love, as displayed in 1 Cor. 13. The first one listed is that love is patient.
The first thing that comes to mind is the world's view of "love" as being sexual relations and people saying "If you really love me, you will ____" - fill in the blank. First of all, if you are putting requirements on love, it's not true love anyway. But speaking about sexual issues, some reasoning behind having sex is that the two people "love" each other, so it's only natural. But TRUE LOVE is patient. It is patient enough to obey the Bible in keeping that for the marriage bed. It is patient enough to not lose your "emotional virginity" as well. You may be wondering exactly what I mean by that bizarre phrase. Well I'm glad you asked. By that I mean sharing too much with your significant other too fast. You do not want to share everything and become more of one unit than God intended. Up until marriage, you are two people with two different fleshes, emotions, and separate everything. Only under the covenant of marriage are you truly to be joined as one unit in everything. Relying solely on that other person, when not under this covenant, is unhealthy and wrong. And as I said before having sex before marriage is also very unhealthy (the only sin you sin against your own body) and very wrong.
Another aspect of the patience of love is just being patient and waiting for that other person in pretty much everything. (This is a lot more applicable to guys since they tend to be waiting for girls more. But this message can be taken to girls as well.) Love waits for that perfect girl who just got out of a relationship and isn't ready to date. Love waits while that girl takes three hours to get ready and is subsequently half an hour late to your first date. Love waits through the ups and downs that define your relationship. Love waits beside your significant other with a hand to hold her as she deals with the death of a loved one or financial instability or any other plethora of hardships. Love waits forever. If she truly is the perfect girl, she is worth the wait. She is not going to give herself to you until she is sure you are truly the man you say you are. And if you cannot handle the wait, then you are NOT the man you say you are. Love is Patient.
The next time you are running through your busy day, wanting to hurry everything up, don't hurry her and don't hurry the Lord. Just remember, "Love is Patient". This may save you some heartache and is a very important true lesson to remember.
Sincerely yours,
Greg
The first thing that comes to mind is the world's view of "love" as being sexual relations and people saying "If you really love me, you will ____" - fill in the blank. First of all, if you are putting requirements on love, it's not true love anyway. But speaking about sexual issues, some reasoning behind having sex is that the two people "love" each other, so it's only natural. But TRUE LOVE is patient. It is patient enough to obey the Bible in keeping that for the marriage bed. It is patient enough to not lose your "emotional virginity" as well. You may be wondering exactly what I mean by that bizarre phrase. Well I'm glad you asked. By that I mean sharing too much with your significant other too fast. You do not want to share everything and become more of one unit than God intended. Up until marriage, you are two people with two different fleshes, emotions, and separate everything. Only under the covenant of marriage are you truly to be joined as one unit in everything. Relying solely on that other person, when not under this covenant, is unhealthy and wrong. And as I said before having sex before marriage is also very unhealthy (the only sin you sin against your own body) and very wrong.
Another aspect of the patience of love is just being patient and waiting for that other person in pretty much everything. (This is a lot more applicable to guys since they tend to be waiting for girls more. But this message can be taken to girls as well.) Love waits for that perfect girl who just got out of a relationship and isn't ready to date. Love waits while that girl takes three hours to get ready and is subsequently half an hour late to your first date. Love waits through the ups and downs that define your relationship. Love waits beside your significant other with a hand to hold her as she deals with the death of a loved one or financial instability or any other plethora of hardships. Love waits forever. If she truly is the perfect girl, she is worth the wait. She is not going to give herself to you until she is sure you are truly the man you say you are. And if you cannot handle the wait, then you are NOT the man you say you are. Love is Patient.
The next time you are running through your busy day, wanting to hurry everything up, don't hurry her and don't hurry the Lord. Just remember, "Love is Patient". This may save you some heartache and is a very important true lesson to remember.
Sincerely yours,
Greg
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Love
So my girlfriend is pretty much amazing. (How's that for an opening line?) I really like her a lot, and for me that is saying a lot. Most people would go ahead and up the ante to saying that they love their gf/bf. However the word love needs to be used sparingly, especially in talking about our significant others, something the world does not know how to do. They want to do anything within their power to feel happy and get everything they want NOW! This is not the Christian way. God has something FAR better in mind for us.
To fully experience this greatness, we need to first be respectful and grateful for the gifts we are given, such as love itself. Saying you love your girlfriend is a really big deal. In my opinion a guy should not commit to saying he loves his girlfriend until he is ready to commit himself totally to her. The 1 Corinthians 13 passage should be our standard for love and we ought not throw around the term flippantly as if it doesn't mean much more than cheap sex or feeling good, as the world has sold us. We need to get grounded in the Scripture and put more meaning and significance to the word love, and not use it until we are ready to really love someone in close to the 1 Cor. 13 way.
God has a great and wonderful plan for our life, and we need to tap into that awesome plan. I submit to you that one way to do this is to apply reverence again to LOVE.
P.S. As a side note, for the next several blogs, it is my intention to dive into each of the characteristics of love mentioned in I Cor. 13 more fully. So keep your eyes out for that. Thanks for reading.
God Bless,
Greg
To fully experience this greatness, we need to first be respectful and grateful for the gifts we are given, such as love itself. Saying you love your girlfriend is a really big deal. In my opinion a guy should not commit to saying he loves his girlfriend until he is ready to commit himself totally to her. The 1 Corinthians 13 passage should be our standard for love and we ought not throw around the term flippantly as if it doesn't mean much more than cheap sex or feeling good, as the world has sold us. We need to get grounded in the Scripture and put more meaning and significance to the word love, and not use it until we are ready to really love someone in close to the 1 Cor. 13 way.
God has a great and wonderful plan for our life, and we need to tap into that awesome plan. I submit to you that one way to do this is to apply reverence again to LOVE.
P.S. As a side note, for the next several blogs, it is my intention to dive into each of the characteristics of love mentioned in I Cor. 13 more fully. So keep your eyes out for that. Thanks for reading.
God Bless,
Greg
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Hit the Ground Running
Hey my faithful following,
This constitutes my first blog post. I was encouraged, if not explicitly, by a close friend (Katie) to make one of these. I think it would be good for me to put into words what I am feeling in my soul each week. I am taking 17 units at Biola this semester, so I will try to put a new post each week, but I doubt much more than that. So please keep me honest by holding me accountable to do these once a week. I hope you follow my example as I follow Paul's example as he follows Christ's example as we seek after God together.
Many blessings everyone,
His servant,
Greg
This constitutes my first blog post. I was encouraged, if not explicitly, by a close friend (Katie) to make one of these. I think it would be good for me to put into words what I am feeling in my soul each week. I am taking 17 units at Biola this semester, so I will try to put a new post each week, but I doubt much more than that. So please keep me honest by holding me accountable to do these once a week. I hope you follow my example as I follow Paul's example as he follows Christ's example as we seek after God together.
Many blessings everyone,
His servant,
Greg
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