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How Do I Love?
John Tilton1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient,love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,it is not easily angered,it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evilbut rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
These attributes of love are diverse in the ways that love could and should manifest itself in our lives. The words delve into all the various actions and emotions that we as human beings encounter and deal with in life; whether it is what we are experiencing or what we are projecting onto others. Truly, the way that Jesus depicts and commands our actions and emotions in these scriptures, if followed, attest to the love that Jesus describes.
However, it is the intentional follow through of our actions in manifesting these attributes into our lives, so that it goes from being head knowledge into action coming from our heart. I’ve found that I often times will read, learn, understand, but fail to incorporate wonderful principles into action, either because of the principles not being ingrained into my character, or character flaws in my life that overrule what I know I should do but don’t. It’s not a mean-spirited thing, but back to the adage, “The law of the land is self-preservation,” meaning “I” and my desires come before others. I would hope and pray that my walking close to the Lord through my devotions, prayer life and equipping myself in the ways of the Lord would ingrain these attributes into my character and life so that they become my DNA rather than great words and head knowledge. It’s like what I saw on the Academy Awards where Auli’I Carvalho from Hawaii sang the title song from the movie Moana. In the middle of her singing before millions, she was hit on the back of her head by a flag dancer with the flag. Many most seasoned artists would have been startled, thrown for a loop and even have cause to be effected in their performance, example being Mariah Carey’s Christmas performance in the Macy Day’s parade when her in ear monitor and monitors didn’t work. However, Auli’I it seemed had such composure in her DNA and character, that she barely even flinched and then sang the song with even more passion and conviction. I want to make the word and principles of the Lord so much of my DNA and conviction that I don’t flinch or have to think about how to love, but to love automatically from what is so ingrained in my soul.
Dear Lord, may your love be manifested in me deeply that I would default to your love manifested in me as part of my DNA and character; so ingrained in me that my response and resolve in times of opportunity and opposition would be natural, instinctive and authentic.
