It's All About Love ~ Part IV

How Long Can You Endure?

“It is not irritable,”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.5.nlt

Now here comes the most difficult part! We all have that one point in life where we know we are about to explode. The only difference is that the boiling point of every individual is different. Some can be the epitome of patience while some can be so irritable that it takes only a small prank to get them to lose their patience.
Well, Paul clearly says that you will be extra patient if you have love. It simply means that you understand everyone here on earth is weak. We all have some weak areas that we struggle to deal with. Understanding that helps us to be patient. We give the other person time to deal with their weaknesses. We realise that we can't change a person, only God can. It's not our duty to change a person.
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/rom.3.23.nlt
We all have fallen short pf His glorious standard, yet He loves us; He is madly in love with us. He is patient with us and keeps accepting us when we run to Him. The story of the Prodigal Son explains it the best.

But then there's another side to it as well. There are people who are teachable and those who are not. There are people who are really struggling with their weaknesses and there are people who will try their best to provoke you. And the Bible clearly mentions not to provoke.
“Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:26‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/gal.5.26.nlt

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/eph.6.4.nlt

It's better to distance ourselves from such people and let God deal with them. But with people who are genuinely struggling, let's be patient just as God is with us.

All About Love ~ Part III

I Love You; But........

“Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way."
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4-5‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.4-5.nlt

Do we find it easy to rejoice with our loved ones when they are blessed with something that we wanted to have...and desperately have it? Well, the Bible clearly mentions that love is not jealous! Some versions also state the word envy.
Sometimes, we have been praying hard for a new job, a better salary, a good house, etc. And we see the answers to our prayers in the life of our loved one. What is the first thought that crosses over our mind? Are you really happy for your loved one? Let me put it in a simple example:
You have been wanting to go abroad and you've been praying hard for it. But things don't work the way you want it to. Your brother's passport gets done without any hassles and his visa also gets cleared. You surely would be sad in the first place, and that is a completely natural reaction. But do you continue sulking or decide to just be as excited as your brother is? There's a serious problem if you keep sulking, throw tantrums, don't help your brother shop and pack his stuffs, etc. In such a case, you need to sot in the presence of God and deal with it.
We need to realise that God knows what's best for us and He won't withhold the best from us. There are times when we block our own blessings because of disobedience and compromises we make in order to fit in this society. Even the 10th commandment says Do Not Covet. Wanting something that doesn't belong to us or envying the person for his/her blessings, is simply not love. If you truly love the person, you would rejoice with him/her as if you have been blessed. You will thank the Lord for working in his/her life. You will also introspect the hurdles you have created that are blocking your blessings or if you need to just trust God and His ways.

There's no point in just talking about how much you love the person when your actions speak otherwise. If you really love a person, you'll take care that you don't hurt that person. You won't look down upon that person and uplift yourself instead. You will show them their mistakes with kindness. You will happily accept that you don't know it all and give some credit to the others. You would also want people to treat you kindly, with respect and love.
“Do to others as you would like them to do to you.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭6:31‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/luk.6.31.nlt

And finally, love is about making adjustments for each other; not compromises. Each one has to bend a little in order to mend.
I've heard people say 'Don't get me wrong. I do love you, but I expected it to be done this way.' 'I want you to live upto your dreams and have the best because I love you; but I felt you should do this because I know things better than you. You're too young to know it all. I've seen worse days.' 'I Love you, but I can't do it your way.'
If it's with conditions, it's not love. Love is not meant to be sold with *Conditions Apply*
“Give as freely as you have received!”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/mat.10.8.nlt

It's All About Love ~ Part II

Patience and Kindness
"Love is patient and kind."
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:4 NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.4-5.nlt

Patience:
By the grace of God we can freely approach Him. Even when we do something wrong or when we sin, we can go to Him, with a true heart repent for what we have done and be cleansed by the blood of Christ. In the same way, we are expected to be patient with the ones we love. Being patient includes forgiving them each time they hurt you and encourage them each time they try hard to allow Christ to change them. Change is a gradual process and we need to be patient with the ones we love. The parable of the Prodigal Son explains it the best. Forgiving might not seem easy each time, but when you can see the person being determined to change ways, we must ask God to help us be patient with them not forgetting that He is patient with us too.

"So watch yourselves! "If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.""
‭‭Luke‬ ‭17:3-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/luk.17.3-4.nlt
As Jesus clearly says to forgive, He also says to rebuke the person who sins. And here is where 'Love is Kind' is applicable.

Kindness:
You will never want your loved ones to perish and that's why you would correct them when wrong. God has placed spiritual leaders over us to discipline us. Even God disciplines us. But the word discipline only helps us think about how to be harsh and how to use the rod to hurt and help someone realise how wrong the person is. But we often forget that: His rod and His staff comforts us. (Psalm 23:4)
Discipline doesn't mean to look down upon someone and hurt someone. It should bring comfort. Using the rod does cause a little pain, but when used with kindness can work as a healing balm.

Earlier people offered animals and birds as sacrifice. Jesus Christ became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins and restored our relationship with the Father. Through His sacrifice, we receive grace to boldly approach the Father. It is because of His grace that He easily forgives us and accepts us each time we approach Him. It His love demonstrated to us through Him being patient and kind with us. But that doesn't give us advantage to play around with the grace we have freely received.

"Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!"
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:15‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/rom.6.15.nlt

God's love for us knows no bounds. He gave His only son for us. Jesus paid a heavy price for our sins. And it is only because of His love for us that He can't let us ruin our lives by playing around with sin. We might end up losing patience with some people. We might not be able to display kindness. Such actions of ours will only be justified when we are aware that the person is stiff necked and doesn't want to mend ways. It is not our duty to change people, only Christ can; but when the person doesn't surrender to Christ willingly, the only way left with us is to pray for that person. Sometimes, remembering people in your prayers can be the best and the only way to maintain relationships. You might cut off every means of communication and yet display patience and kindness by praying without ceasing for them.

"Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices."
‭‭Luke‬ ‭19:45‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/luk.19.45.nlt
Jesus did lose His cool. You might also be aware of many scriptures where He wasn't very kind towards the Pharisees. Yet, He did not sin. Neither did He hate them. And I'm sure that if they would come to Him with a repentant heart, He would have gladly forgiven them and accepted them; but they didn't. Even when they knew that Jesus was speaking about them, they didn't bother to mend their ways.

"When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers."
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭21:45‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/mat.21.45.nlt

Similarly, we might encounter such people. It is only the Holy Spirit who can help us discern to make the right choice.

Patience and Kindness go hand in hand. They are qualities that express love. We need to ensure that we aren't playing with the grace and love we receive not only from God, but also from people. At the same time, we need to be careful that people shouldn't exploit us because of the patience and kindness we show towards them.

It's All About Love ~ Part I

Love in Words, Deeds and Reality.

"If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing."
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.3.nlt

Right from the first verse of this chapter, Paul talks about the importance of love. We all know how important love is and we believe that if you love someone, it has to be seen in actions. Yet Paul draws such a beautiful difference between love in words, love in deeds and love- true love.

For many in today's world, love is charity. Distributing clothes and food among the poor, donating money to orphanages and old age homes, etc. Some do it in secrecy and some publicly. But is the love of Christ limited to just that? Will that be enough to love the unloved with the love of Christ?

"Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with such scum? " When Jesus heard this, he said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor—sick people do.""
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9:10-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/mat.9.10-12.nlt

Jesus did not boast about His deeds. Neither did He only stop at helping the needy. He went a step ahead. He invested His time in their lives. And that means a lot.

We need to realise that people need our time more than the material we offer. We can share about the love of Christ only when we spend time with those who need it. Many a times we can gift someone and yet not love the person. We can easily fake an 'I love you' without even meaning it.

Love is more than words and deeds. It's more than materialistic things. It is what people are actually deprived of. As disciples of Christ, it's upto us to invest this true loves in the lives of those who really need it.

Charity might earn you a name and status in society, but service will earn you a reward by The Most High!

It's All About Love ~ Part V

Don't Compromise

“and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13:5-6‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1co.13.5-6.nlt

Forgive and Let Go is the key to a happy life. God also forgives us, accepts us as we are and and cleanses us of our sins.
“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:12‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/psa.103.12.nlt
But we enjoy the grace given to us so much that we tend to start playing around with the grace given to us. The records of our wrongdoings are not remembered by God if we repent with a true heart. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us be teachable.
God forgives us easily. It is only when He knows that we will only learn the hard way, does he decides to discipline us. He doesn't enjoy while we suffer. It pains Him too. He is our Father; a Father who loves and cares for us more than any human can. He loves us and so He disciplines us. We also need to keep reminding ourselves that our God is a just God. Even before He considers a person to be an orphan or a widow, He sees right and wrong. We are answerable to Him for our deeds.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭6:23‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/rom.6.23.nlt
“Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭13:24‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/pro.13.24.nlt
In the past couple of years I've realised that loving someone is not standing with that person in all that he does. Love is when you try to stop that person from compromising with God's standards. Love is not supporting your loved one to go towards the pit or jumping with him in the pit; it is helping your loved one to come out of the pit. Compromising with God's word is no where close to loving God. If you love God, you will gladly obey His words and "Obedience is better than sacrifice,"
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭15:22‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/1sa.15.22.nlt
Only being true keeps the love in any relationship alive. There might be times where you will have to stand against your loved ones in order for the truth to win, but remember that pleasing the Lord is more important than pleasing men. God will honour you for taking the right stand. He loves you unconditionally and so will rejoice over you for being true.
In situations where you find yourself helpless, if you're with people who are not teachable, trust in the Lord. His grace is enough! His love will take you through and He will make a way for you.