Love is Kind

We reviewed that Love is Patient. The second line in the Love chapter is "Love is Kind". At first you may think, "Yeah, of course it is!". Why would we have to be reminded that love is kind? think about your everyday life and how you interact or react to the ones around you that you already love and those that you should loving. Are you kind? The deep breathe for "patience" that you take before you react, is it followed only by kind words or is it just a preemptual response to the ensuing boil over?

I know that for me, in my every day life, I often forget to be kind. As I read in Ephesians 4 this week, I am reminded of a few things. One, "In your anger, do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger." Vs. 26. then if we drop down to verse 30 we see a list of things that are not Christ like behaviour and therefore would not be loving. "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice." And then here we go..... vs. 32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Then, in

Chapter 5:1-2 "B e imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of LOVE, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Imitators of God....what a challenge that statement is! So our impatience, behind the back comments and dirty looks aren't godly?! Hmmmm. Love is kind. Simple, to the point and yet, oh so challenging.

LOVE

February is the month we celebrate those we love. Lovers, girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, best friends.....you name it, if we love it we celebrate it this month. Candy, flowers, chocolate, jewlery, cards, fancy dinners and the list goes on. What part of the celebration that we obsess over do we find the characteristic of love as listed in the Love Chapter, I Corinthians 13?

The very first complete sentence in this chapter is "Love is patient." Not love is patient if or love is patient when. Simply, Love is patient. Period. No excuses or prerequisits. How well do you follow this simple statement? I know, for myself, that I don't follow it as well as I should. That's for sure. And that counts for every loved aspect of my life. Daughter, husband, dogs, friends, family, you name it.

Why would that be the first statement on the list? Before selfishness, envy, jealousy and so on. Amazing isn't it? Or maybe it's not very amazing at all. God knew the nature of the beast He created and knew that above all else we would need to be so very careful, sensitive, understanding and PATIENT! It really will make you stop and think for a moment when you are about to loose your cool and you think.....this person is driving me CRAZY! Take a deep breath, look to the Lord and be still in your heart while you let Christ take over.