Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 1 Chr. 13:4 - 7

Spend some time reading this scripture passage. Love suffers long. Love is kind while it suffers long. Love doesn't envy the success and riches of others (friend or enemy alike). Love does not make itself known or flash a badge whenever it comes out and does something. Love does not behave itself unseemly (do things that are not in accordance with decorum or good manners). Go on and see that Love has a lot to put up with. Remember through all of this, too, that we are NOT love, we are to USE love. We are conceived in love, and we have access to unlimited love, but we are still not love itself. That is the premise of this treatise.

I submit that this is one of the reasons that love is taking such a beating in the church. Unlike anger, which requires no thought (unless you are trying to control it), love requires thought all the time. We learn to love those who bring us up. We grow to love those we associate with in a positive manner but what about the others in our lives? What about the transient personalities that offend us or ignore us or, worse, plot against us?

Love is an effort. Let's admit that right off. To meet up with the requirements of that scripture, particularly the latter part (beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things) needs great effort. Work. We have to work on it to ensure that we practice and evidence true love.

Contrary to popular belief, love is not all gushy huggy and snuggly. Love is deeper than emotions. Love is action. Love is essence and should be the foundation of who we are and how we react. Love should guide us and be the forefront of every thought we make. When we act in love we act in a way that keeps people from getting under our skin. Love does not dictate how THEY react or do, it dictates how WE react and do.

Love is a powerful tool and weapon in the arsenal of a Christian. It is more than the basis of our relationship with the Lord, it is the very root of everything we do in life. Read those passages and you will see how deeply love affects us and why it is so difficult for Christians in this day and age. We are allowing our emotions to dictate what love is SUPPOSED to be, and forsaking what love truly is.

I urge you to remember to think about love every day. Love takes a lot of pushing around, but does not make you a doormat. Love makes you wise, and allows you to stand for yourself without stooping to their level. Regardless of how you do what you do, you can always do it with dignity. Love does not perform unseemly acts. This thing is so deep that we need to start understanding that it is an effort; a concious thing that we choose to do every day. To overlook petty hurts, to forgo the actions of others, to avoid revenge or hate, or envy or strife. To simply love and act in love is to be kind in the face of callousness and to be joyful when nothing brings joy.

Learn to act and live in love an you will move past emotion, past the times when you FEEL like saying I love you to your loved ones, and grow into the NEED to say it even to your enemy. It does not make you weak, it makes you a CHRISTIAN.

In love,

Elder mark