love as a lifestyle
well, i have so many things to do...so many assignments, lessons to plan, games to come up with, and studying for a HUGE exam (this coming saturday). so naturally, i am not doing any of it...instead i am writing on a blog which all of maybe 2 people read. technically, i am multi-tasking right now - "watching" a video and writing my comments on it...while writing in my beloved blog.
i got a new plant. it's fun. it has no flowers. the leaves are a nice color green along the edges, but are mostly a light pink color. it's cool, kinda like a trippy dalmation plant. i like it! today, i named her wendy. like in peter pan :)
at hope group tonight, tommy (hope group leader) prompted us with a question: "what is the greatest display of love you have seen from one human being to another?" i had a really difficult time with this question because i couldn't really pinpoint just one huge example. for a little while i was getting worried, wondering what the heck was wrong with me. why could i not think of any great examples of love?! all i could think of were the different instances in which Christ scooped me up and rescued me from what i beleived to be certain doom! then i realized later, after much thought on the subject, that where i see love the most (besides my family) is through my friends. when i think of love, i think of the laughter and joys that my friends and i share together - just finding happiness in the simple things. i think of sharing sorrows and bearing each other's burdens. i think of spurring each other toward Christ and love. i think of so many different faces and memories. and to me, that's love.
at the end of the night, 3 conclusions were put forth that stood out to me especially:
1. all the acts of love that were shared were just small manifestations of Christ's love
2. love is completely about the other person and their needs - it has NOTHING to do whatsoever with self. in fact, you must humble yourself and put yourself last in order to truly love others.
3. we should not strive for acts of love, we should strive for a lifestyle of love!
it's so true that love is all about others and nothing about ourselves. i have heard so many people say that you cannot love others unless you love yourself. i am not sure if i subscribe to that theory, but i do know that when you love others, you must consider yourself unimportant! your needs, your desires, your feelings...they must all be disregarded in order to love to the fullest extent. Christ loved us with everything He had - literally. He did not consider His health or wants above His mission..His love for us! as Christians, we should follow in His footsteps and sacrifice ourselves for the sakes of others. why is it so hard to humble yourself? why is it so hard to put yourself last? why is it so hard to consider others more important? even if you understand you are not perfect; even if you are disappointed in yourself as a person...it's still incredibly difficilut to consider others first. why?!
this last point is the one that struck me the hardest. it just seemed the most profound to me! yes, we are called to love others - it truly is a calling! i cannot just love one person one time in one way and say "i have loved like Christ has loved. yes, i have done my duty!" my desire should be to love all people in all ways at all times! this should not just be my desire alone, but it should be all peoples' desire! so from now on, i will strive to live a lifestyle of love. instead of living a selfish lifestyle with the occasional act of love, i will seek to be more like Christ, living TO love.
"If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing."
- 1 Cor. 13:1-3
"Life a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God."
- Eph. 5:2
i got a new plant. it's fun. it has no flowers. the leaves are a nice color green along the edges, but are mostly a light pink color. it's cool, kinda like a trippy dalmation plant. i like it! today, i named her wendy. like in peter pan :)
at hope group tonight, tommy (hope group leader) prompted us with a question: "what is the greatest display of love you have seen from one human being to another?" i had a really difficult time with this question because i couldn't really pinpoint just one huge example. for a little while i was getting worried, wondering what the heck was wrong with me. why could i not think of any great examples of love?! all i could think of were the different instances in which Christ scooped me up and rescued me from what i beleived to be certain doom! then i realized later, after much thought on the subject, that where i see love the most (besides my family) is through my friends. when i think of love, i think of the laughter and joys that my friends and i share together - just finding happiness in the simple things. i think of sharing sorrows and bearing each other's burdens. i think of spurring each other toward Christ and love. i think of so many different faces and memories. and to me, that's love.
at the end of the night, 3 conclusions were put forth that stood out to me especially:
1. all the acts of love that were shared were just small manifestations of Christ's love
2. love is completely about the other person and their needs - it has NOTHING to do whatsoever with self. in fact, you must humble yourself and put yourself last in order to truly love others.
3. we should not strive for acts of love, we should strive for a lifestyle of love!
it's so true that love is all about others and nothing about ourselves. i have heard so many people say that you cannot love others unless you love yourself. i am not sure if i subscribe to that theory, but i do know that when you love others, you must consider yourself unimportant! your needs, your desires, your feelings...they must all be disregarded in order to love to the fullest extent. Christ loved us with everything He had - literally. He did not consider His health or wants above His mission..His love for us! as Christians, we should follow in His footsteps and sacrifice ourselves for the sakes of others. why is it so hard to humble yourself? why is it so hard to put yourself last? why is it so hard to consider others more important? even if you understand you are not perfect; even if you are disappointed in yourself as a person...it's still incredibly difficilut to consider others first. why?!
this last point is the one that struck me the hardest. it just seemed the most profound to me! yes, we are called to love others - it truly is a calling! i cannot just love one person one time in one way and say "i have loved like Christ has loved. yes, i have done my duty!" my desire should be to love all people in all ways at all times! this should not just be my desire alone, but it should be all peoples' desire! so from now on, i will strive to live a lifestyle of love. instead of living a selfish lifestyle with the occasional act of love, i will seek to be more like Christ, living TO love.
"If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing."
- 1 Cor. 13:1-3
"Life a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God."
- Eph. 5:2
Comments