The Journey of Love

LOVE, Part II

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." I Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient...
As a parent I need to plaster this to my forehead. It should be the motto, the theme song, the mission statement of parenthood. Patience. My daughter, Ivy, has the coolest, most fun and wacky personality of any little kid I've met. She also runs on a different time zone than the rest of the family.

Love is kind...
Kindness is lovely. When you're not expecting it, the surprise of kindness is like an oasis. When we expect rudeness and receive kindness, it almost catches our breath.

It does not envy...
I love my trusty 7 year old Durango. It seats all my family plus a couple, its reliable and I'm really quite endeared to it. Today I got to borrow our cousins' new Audi TT convertible. It's quite possibly the coolest car in existence.

It does not boast...
We are all talented in some way. In these God-given gifts, I think telling of His good gifts can turn quite quickly to boasting. There is a fine line here.

It is not proud...
Pride is one of the hardest. It seeps in without warning and can tarnish even the loveliest.

Love is not rude...
The opposite of kindness. Our ultimate challenge when being the recipient of rudeness, is to not reciprocate rudeness. It's such a provoked, knee-jerk response.

It is not self-seeking...
I love myself. And I love my family. It's so easy to be lost in the world of our own families. While this is not bad, I think there is a time and place for these loves. There is a time to give outside of ourselves and even our own families. In the act of selflessness, your family unit gains strength, knowledge and even more love.

It is not easily angered...
For me, it's like a math equation. One 8-yr-old + one 4-yr-old + one 5-month-old + one pug + one job + one messy house + running late for church on Sunday morning - one husband - one cup of coffee = easily angered!

It does not keep a record of wrongs...
I will choose to forget the hurt or offense, and forgive.

It does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth...
I have to be careful what tv, movies, toys, music, and conversation we allow in our home and outside. Evil is just plain darkness, hidden in so many things, and, like light, truth is shed on these things if we allow it.

Love always protects...
This should go beyond the realm of my kids and husband. Anyone I love I should protect and defend. There is no room for protection in gossip.

It always trusts...
Trust always goes out the door first if we are hurt. Love always trusts.

It always hopes and perseveres...
I have struggled with depression off and on my whole life. It no longer has a hold on me as it did in my earlier years, but it still creeps up on me. I think to hope and persevere are the exact opposite of depression.


As a mom with borderline OCD issues (yes, it's true), it's so easy to look at these instructions as a to-do list. If we think to ourselves, oh man, I really need to be more kind or patient or hopeful, I think we've missed it. It is impossible to love like this unless we ourselves experience His divine love. If our 'love tank' is empty, then we can forget trying to love. Really. Imagine a hamster in his wheel. Spinning, running, trying.

I remember a time when I had not yet experienced His love for me. Being a Christian since I was four years old, I had been told of it more times than I could count, I knew all the Bible verses about it, I had even caught glimpses of it. And a few years ago, in a thirsty crescendo, this dryness caused the water to taste sweeter in the moment that it came. And it came like a waterfall. I was loved, not because of anything I had done, or anything I had not done. I was loved because He is Love, in spite of everything. I was loved as I was. And nothing was ever the same. In that place of truly knowing love, like never before, I could begin to love with almost no effort at all.

When we know Love itself it all falls into place. We are patient, we are kind, we don't envy, we don't boast, we are not proud, we are not rude, we don't think about ourselves or get easily angered, we don't keep score of wrongs, we don't love evil but we love the truth, we protect and hope and trust and persevere. We will never be perfect on this side of heaven, but let me tell you, unless we know this Love to the very inmost parts of us, we simply cannot love, or do any good thing, like he commands us to. We're just spinning hamsters.

If you don't feel lovely and the task of trying to love a I-Corinthians-13-kind-of-love seems impossible, then consider this, "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord - Romans 8:38-39" You are loved. When this is known in your heart of hearts and you want to shout it from the rooftops, then the journey of loving begins.

And as is the nature of all journies, I find again that I'm in a bit of a dry spell. I have felt what it is to be loved, and I have loved with the love I received. But it's time to get a taste again of what Love is and get to the business of truly loving.