Love Never Fails

15 Jul

Love Never Fails

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.~John 13:34-35

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1

If I am in fellowship with Christ, then shouldn’t I demonstrate love in action? Even with the provocations of life? Instead, I sometimes, perhaps more often, bend the opposite way of love, and so goes the clanging pieces of broken people clashing loud… the absence of love.

I have been hurt because of an absence of love..in action, word or deed. Past experiences, even recently past, help beckon me to compassionately pursue love as my first reaction…at least they did today.

Earlier today, I arrived early for my appointment at my doctor’s office. The receptionist first said, “Did you make an appointment?” My heart sank, Oh no, they didn’t put my appointment in their system, I thought.

Seconds later, “You are not in our system, only your husband.” Now she’s telling me, essentially, she has no idea who I am or why I am there. Wait, it get’s better. Next, she seems to be looking under the wrong insurance for my coverage and says, “Your insurance says it isn’t in effect.” Suffice it to say, I wanted to ask her if it was her first day on the job. It was with  my most loving attempt reacting kindly when I didn’t shout, or even say, “I’ve been a patient here for 6 years and I made an appointment! Find me in your system!”

Love is kind and patient. It treats others with respect and knows when to take a time out. I decided to leave while I still possessed the grace to do so… kindly.

I knew that my children and fellow patients were watching.  I knew that this woman was made by God and in His image. It wasn’t entirely, or perhaps at all, her fault she had no proof that I had ever been a patient there. So I consciously made an effort to be respectful to show compassion and love.

Mind you, it wasn’t that I provided a perfect example of love (my children heard the phone conversation that I had with their father afterwords in which I said what was really on my mind) but rather in that instance (and most of the phone conversation)  I didn’t say something that I would later have to apologize for.

The Bible conveys what love is in 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient and kind. It is content and humble. Love seeks to forgive and be forgiven. Love shows honor and acts with respect. Love pursues and proclaims truth. Love endures while it keeps no record of wrongs. Love protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. Perhaps perseverance is one of the more difficult pursuits in love. Love never fails.

God alone possess and expresses perfect love in abundance and without fail. That is why we are grace chasers. We need His grace and abundant love to truly live and to love well. His perfect love is expressed perfectly in the triune relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit–and next, to His creation.

To sustain my relationship with others I require the love of God as infused by daily filling of the Holy Spirit. The filling that I should seek and lean into through prayer and the reading and memorization of Scripture. Additionally, love is learned and sustained in community. Love must be lived out with others to truly be love. Love is not something that can be fully learned or expressed in isolation because love costs. It would not be precious if it didn’t.  

Whether preaching the gospel in our home, to each other as members of the body of Christ, or to the lost world, love is the essential key for others to see Christ in us. We must convey love towards people both within the Body and without in order to know that we truly believe what we profess.

Jerry Bridges perfectly illustrates the effects of the absence of love in the following story:

I remember hearing of one university student of whom it was said, “He can lead people to Christ, but no one wants to room with him.” Whether he could, given that immaturity of character, truly lead people to a saving knowledge of Christ may be questioned by some. But whether he could or not, it is true that a great big dose of love was needed to make him truly effective. ~ True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia

Love is the most essential ingredient. Period. Without love we are not what we claim to be. To live apart from love is to live apart from Christ. That is a state of the lost.

I need more of Christ because I need to love others more.

I need to love others more because I love Jesus Christ.

Because the Holy Spirit lives within me, and the greatest act of love and forgiveness has been afforded me at Calvary, I am free to love even when it costs me convenience, pain, or even rejection.

Because our love never truly falls to the ground– Jesus receives and accepts all of our meager offerings to love and He always returns our love even with others do not–we are free to risk being rejected because He knew rejection.

We can forgive those who have rejected our love offerings because we have certainly rejected the love of God at one point or another. This knowledge of His continued love in the face of our rejection reminds us how very much we have been forgiven and the gift of His love–grace.

Love never fails. Love never fails to give. Love never fails to give of itself. Love never fails to forgive.

Love…never…fails. 

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Loving Well

3 Jun

Loving Well

 

So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

(Ephesians 5:33, NLT)

Two links to help you love well in the covenant marriage you are in, or the one you are preparing for:

  • One great post on faithfully consummating  marital love by Sheila Wray Gregoire. (Click here.) Shelia blogs at To Love Honor and Vacuum. I frequently read her blog posts as I find them on Pinterest. Her site is packed full of biblical counsel for women in particular and couples in general. 

Satan likes a marriage without sex as much as sex without a marriage. Why does the church only condemn one of the two? ~Shelia Wray Gregoire

  • One wonderful sermon on love and lust by Timothy Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York. Very much worth 30 minutes of your time whether you are single or married. (Click here.)

You’ll never be well married unless Christ is the Spouse of your soul. ~Timothy Keller

Ron and I recently celebrated 12 years of marriage and I am so grateful for a husband that strives to love me well in every way. May the content linked within this post today serve to enrich your marriage or your biblical view of marriage in general.

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You are Lavished With Love

14 Feb

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I have never really been a fan of Valentine’s Day. Sure, I love pink and red color combinations, beautiful bouquets of flowers, and chocolate as much as the next female, but a mandatory day to show love via purchases and swipes of the credit card just have never been appealing.

I remember every February 14th from elementary to high school as the flowers and teddy bears would flood the offices. Parents and grandparents sending their love one red rose at a time. My parents loved me and showed me in a multitude of other ways. I was never jealous that my name wasn’t on one of the bouquets, but I just didn’t get it. What was the big deal?

Two years ago I read about St. Valentinus of Rome. He is the priest, born 200 years after Christ, whose martyrdom we remember every February 14th. It seems that Valentinus disobeyed the ruling of Emperor Claudius the Cruel to cease all marriages within the Roman Empire and to worship the Roman gods. Claudius needed more men for battle and believed that unmarried men would make better and more willing soldiers. Valentinus knew this was against the law of God and chose to secretly marry couples under the blanket of night so that men could depart for battle having married their loves.

Valentinus was soon found out and taken prisoner of Claudius the Cruel. He was beheaded on the 14th of February for his crimes of love and loyalty to the One True God and His commandment for men and women to join together in holy matrimony.

The faithfulness of Valentinus is a day that I can recognize with deepest respect and gratefulness for the many people held prisoner around the world for their faithfulness to the gospel and for those that have died in the name of Christ Jesus. Sure, I gave small gifts as tokens of my love for the kids and Ron this morning, but Christ’s love was lavished on us that we may become sons and daughters of God. Valentinus, and all Christian martyrs like him, died for their faith in Jesus and are presently being lavished with the love of their Savior in eternity.

Perhaps today you are suffering with a broken heart like those of the many Roman citizens who were told they could not marry their love because of battle and Roman decrees?

Does this February 14th hold heartache and pain because of the loss of a loved one, a relationship severed, or some other relational disappointment in life? Can I honestly say, we are lavished even still in our love by Christ?

I am saddened today as well. This last month has been hard for this former foster-mom’s heart. My foster son, Little E, was reunited with his birth dad in November. This month he turned three the same week our daughter turned six. While we celebrate birthdays and Valentine’s Day as a family, it is with a twinge of sadness for the son that I cannot see. I pray continuously for him and his spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. In some ways, I know what it is to have loved and lost.

This Valentine’s Day, may your hearts be comforted by the lavishing love of Christ. May you find moments to rejoice and be glad and may you find beauty in the everyday gifts of the One who died in your place. There is still much for which to be grateful.

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Unpacking Christmas: Three Gifts

16 Dec

 A Christmas Poem

Christmas dawned cool and bright; I awoke at 6 AM that morn’.
All the presents were still wrapped and the ribbon yet untorn.

I began to wonder with delight what the day’s festivities would bring
Would I get that iPod shuffle, a DVD, perhaps a ring?

After breakfast came three presents they were wrapped just as I liked.
When I shook them they were silent, small, and tender…was that right?

The first I gently opened wondering, “Was it delicate and sweet?”
I gasped as I discovered Forgiveness had been given me.

I wept as I recounted all the selfishness, anger, and pride
that had accompanied my character; those traits I try to hide.

I was thankful for this present, overwhelmed at such generosity
to be given what I hadn’t asked for, nor deserved, but yet would be
the greatest gift that only Christ could offer which cost His life on Calvary.
I lingered with Forgiveness one more moment then proceeded to open next,
a present a little larger and more glittery than the rest.

Grace and Mercy came pouring out as soon as I unwrapped the ribbon then
light shone all around it as I gingerly looked in.

Ah, Grace, greater than all my sins which beckons me to come
and Mercy to let me visit with my Savior and consider all that He has done.

Grace, which accompanies Forgiveness but continues to set me free
to pursue the King of Glory and to know the King of Kings.

I marveled once more at Mercy that would allow me to behold
a precious gift much greater than all my weight in gold.
Could there be more to this Christmas? One more present still left beneath the Christmas tree?
I rubbed my eyes in wonder as His Spirit had set me free.

The third gift looked more rustic a little rough that was clear to see.
I eagerly unwrapped this present and was astonished to see… me.

A dirty mirror met my gaze and I started then to fret
as I picked up a note inside then proceeded to read it.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:11-13

Dear One,

I have saved you to make My Name and Glory known among the nations.  Let us move beyond your childish ways this year and clean this mirror together. It is not an easy task, but with Me all things are possible.  Let’s make this a year to love others. I want to use you to extend Forgiveness, Grace, and Mercy to all mankind. Will you join me?

Love,

I Am

Oh, Christ whose grace is greater than all my wicked sins,
would you choose to use this vessel though it is dirty deep within?

That you would change me and use me to set other captives free.
Yes, I will join you on this journey, take up my cross and follow Thee.
Will you join us on this journey, take up your cross and follow He?

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Because They Call Me Mom

10 May

beach 2013

 Mother’s often struggle with mommy guilt over words uttered in anger, cookies unmade, plans not brought to fruition, and energy misappropriated.

The heart of most mothers’ is full of good intentions, noble purposes, and best-laid plans. However, the crumbs, melt-downs, mood swings of teens, and business of life leave the portrait of our days painted differently than the landscape in our minds-eye.

Take heart: God redeems the imperfections and the masterpieces of those who seek to live and love through a righteous life.

 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8, NIV)

Mom’s, under normal circumstances children will remember much of the good and less of the bad. That is what equips them to make their own parenting choices in the future. It leads them to the Father. It reminds them of an agape love that only the one Father can provide all of the time.

God has equipped children with the greatest capacity for love and forgiveness. It is true, our children reflect the gospel.

Yesterday at breakfast, one of my boys was crying over the way I had prepared his English muffin. That did it. The crying over his daily bread broke me into fitful pieces and  the peace in our home was sliced right through.

Ron helped clean up the crumbs of crisis and loaded the kids in the car for a park date and me some much needed alone time. Before leaving,  my son came bearing good-bye kisses and kneaded the dough of love into his mama’s heart. I needed that.

As he left, simply these words, “I have hugs and kisses in my heart for you and dad when we get back too mama.”

Great love. Great forgiveness. Great grace. Those are the ingredients of the spiritual and the generational families of this life and the next.

Because they call me mom I must call on the Father more.

Because they call me mom I have added accountability to practice what I preach.

Because they call me mom I have kisses and hugs in abundance.

In short, I am blessed…because they call me mom.

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This post is in honor of my mom. I am blessed to call you mom and live in your love. ~Brooke

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I Have Not Love

9 Jan

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Jesus,

Help me. I have not love. At least not love enough.

Your Daughter,

Brooke

P.S.

I only love because you first loved me. Thank you…

How numerous the opportunities to kneel or to break by 10:00 in the morning! Today, the rare occasion in which the children awake me…at 6:00 no less; I choose to kneel. Sending daddy off to work; kneel again. A visit with Little E’s case manager, I kneel as the kids either obey the first time… or not. But wait, wait for it, here it comes…I bend…then break.

Crayons are given, coloring pages laid out, one book is read, and the starting of another. It is at this point it all comes unglued. I bend something mighty and the peace breaks into the very pieces which cannot be picked up.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.~John 13:34-35

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1

If I am in fellowship with Christ, then shouldn’t I demonstrate love in action? Even with the provocations of three children? Instead, I bend and so went the clanging pieces of broken people clashing loud… the absence of patient love.

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People are fond of quoting the verse, “God is love.” But, C.S. Lewis rightly questions the meaning behind these words. Are we misusing these words as mere semantics for the thought that every love people express is God? Here is what Lewis has to say in this regard:

But they seem not to notice that the words “God is love” have no real meaning unless God contains at least two Persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love. Of course, what these people mean when they say that God is love is often something quite different: they really mean “Love is God.” They really mean that our feelings of love, however and wherever they arise, and whatever results they produce, are to  be treated with great respect. ~ Mere Christianity, p. 151

God is love expressed in his three state relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and then to His creation. To sustain my relationship with others I require the love of God as infused by daily filling of the Holy Spirit. The filling that I should seek and lean into through prayer and the reading and memorization of Scripture.

In the church, love is the most needed as the culmination of gifts that God has given His people: teaching, acts of service, giving, admonition, etc., are utilized. Whether preaching the gospel in our home,  to the body of Christ, or to a lost world, love is the essential key for others to see Christ in us; for others to know that we actually believe what we profess.  I realize this  especially when I have chosen to stomp my feet, dig in my heels, and demand the obedience that is required from our children as their mom.

Jerry Bridges perfectly illustrates the effects of the absence of love in the following story:

I remember hearing of one university student of whom it was said, “He can lead people to Christ, but no one wants to room with him.” Whether he could, given that immaturity of character, truly lead people to a saving knowledge of Christ may be questioned by some. But whether he could or not, it is true that a great big dose of love was needed to make him truly effective. ~ True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia

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After the kids had listened to the second story and sat there as quietly as possible in obedience I penned the note above. I need more of Christ because I need to love others more… I must choose to kneel.

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