God’s Love

2 Corinthians 4:7-12
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

God’s Love

God’s love will take you further than you want to go,
Cost you more than you thought you could give.
It keeps you sometimes longer than you want to stay,
Causes you to live and act contrary to logic of man,
Contrary to what you may actually think or feel.
It causes you to love those who hate you,
Pray for those who selfishly use you,
Bless those who curse you and speak ill of you.
Forgive those who disappoint and hurt you,
Go the extra mile and give more than is required.
It will cause you to see the best in people, not the worst.
It will cause you to see past people’s faults to see their need.
It will cause you to endure with longsuffering and self-control.
It will cause you to live with abandon to random acts of kindness.
It will give you patience to endure the pain and stay the course.
It will cause you to die that you may truly live,
Because the love of “Christ in you” is the life you give.
Kent Stuck

Blessings,
kent

Advertisement

Is it all about Me?

Philippians 2:1-4
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Is it all about Me?

One of the things that most of us deal with and have the most problems with is our ego and our self. Even when we don’t see it in ourselves there is often that inner selfish voice screaming, “what about me, what about me”. It is truly a paradigm shift for many of us to turn our focus from ourselves and now use that same concern on the behalf of others. It becomes the shift from selfish to selfless. God’s love has this characteristic in that it sees the needs of another before it sees its own. In this world it is all about taking care of number one if you are going to be successful, but, as with most things, in God’s economy and kingdom we esteem one another as better and more important than ourselves. This can’t be born out of a false humility, but out of genuine love and concern for those around us. We are there to assure their success and well being and if they are functioning in the same principles they will be there to assure our success.
It is often hard for us when we see someone promoted before us. Someone we perceive as certainly not being anymore qualified and deserving than we are. If our heart and mind are truly set upon promoting others before ourselves, then we will take joy and accomplishment in that we fulfilled our goal of promoting and esteeming others as better than ourselves. The other side of that coin is that we develop this martyr complex where we want to be seen as laying it all down for Jesus and it can still be a backdoor to our ego in that it draws attention to itself by all that it sacrifices and gives. God’s balance and order is that no one person gives it or does it all, but we all work together, esteeming each other above our own interests where there becomes a balance of a body of believers or even in a marriage of serving one another. If we all had as our purpose the happiness and well being of those around us, would any of us lack? This is being one in spirit and in purpose. I know this is what God wants to grow us up into in our walk and relationship with Him. When this happens the divorce rate will go way down, because it ceases to be about egos and selfishness and it will become about what we can do to bless and care for the needs our spouse. How can I build them up and how can I be sensitive to their needs. This often flies in the face of our current selfish ambitions and agendas, what we often fail to realize is that in that other person’s happiness and fulfillment lies our own.

Blessings,
kent