I Wanna Know What LOVE is...

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a ~

Lately there have been some things in my life that have brought up what love actually is, the americanization of words can really "dumb" down a word, and at times when someone says something you don't know if they actually mean it or not.
Sometimes I get caught up in myself, my needs, my wants, what I think I need or want...then God places something in my life that I did not necessarily want, and I look at it and most of the time pitch a fit, but there are times that God places His hand on my shoulder and says you need to have true love for this person, no matter how they act or what they do to offend you or seemingly put you down. Love is not about having your needs met; it’s about meeting the needs of another.  It’s not about being served, but serving.  It’s not about keeping track; it’s about paying the price. It’s not about finally getting everything you ever wanted; it’s about forgiving another for who they cannot be.  Love is not a noun---something to have.  Love is a verb---something to do.
 The world's definition of love is to make sure you get affection in return, it's supposedly 50/50. But the Bible never gives us any indication that Love is 50/50, at least not REAL LOVE. Jesus gave His all and He is the ultimate example. I can never be live up to what Jesus was/is, because He was/is perfect...but we can always strive to be as much like Him as possible. He will give us the strength to Love when no one else loving in return. It is easy to love someone when they are giving love back, but to love when it is not returned is the greatest thing you can do.
As a Christian I know I don't deserve anyones love, least of all that of my Saviours. Therefore I must realize that if I do not deserve His love, though He gave His all for me, the least I can do is love without expecting anything in return. Believe me, this is very hard to do, especially if you are trying to do it in your own strength. Without Christ, you can never truly love anyone. I am still working on loving those whom I don't feel love me, but I must give 100%. Believe me I doubt I've reached the 50% mark yet, so don't think I am an example of this. I am preaching to the choir here.

Will you show the love of  Christ?

Taking Thoughts Captive

My sister Noel and I were talking today about "not thinking about things" and how hard it is not to think about something that you are thinking about (ok, did that make any sense at all?). When we, as Christians try not to think a bad thought, or think on something that we really shouldn't be dwelling on, we tend to find ourselves dwelling on it even more. Why? I think it's because "we" are the one "trying" to get rid of the thought.

The Bible says in 2 Cor. 10:3-5 " For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," you see, we aren't the ones who are suppose to try to get rid of those thoughts. We are suppose to take them captive and give them to Christ.

I have noticed that when I try something in my own strength it never works, and believe me I am not a wimpy girl and it takes a lot for me to ask for help. I will do as much as possible before I go for help...so this is something that is very hard for me to do. God shows us through 2 Cor. 12:9-10 that only through weakness can we recieve His strength and how I have seen it, I can only realize after I have worn myself down to the weakest person that I could be before I hand it over to Christ saying humbly "take it LORD".

So now instead of trying to "not think about something" I am going to take it captive and give it to Christ...He is the only one who can get it out of my mind...and I don't have to worry about it anymore.