Charity

Our Pastor preached an excellent message recently on The Love Chapter. It was an amazing reminder of what true Christian love should look like. How short I fall! If I remember correctly, one of the points was that 1 Cor. 13 love cannot be done on our own, we need the work of the Holy Spirit in our life to produce the fruit of true love. I jotted down several notes and definitions for the different words in the chapter. Each one is convicting and challenging, but also encouraging as I think about the love the the Lord has for me. Thank you, Lord for our church and our faithful Pastor.

Check out these verses.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

1 Corinthians 13:1-4



Here are a couple of definitions/thoughts I copied out for several of the words in verse 4. I love studying the definitions of words and then substituting them in the verse to get another angle of the meaning. Maybe that's not KJV correct, but it seems to help me. :)



4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,



Kind = Helpful, looking for a solution, service/solution oriented



Envy = Striving to get what someone else has



Vaunt = Does not have to be noticed



Puffed up = Inflated idea of yourself

Aren't we girls just so prone to not want solutions? Instead of talk out my problems, we want the other person to guess or to be miserable while we give the cold shoulder treatment. It's just such a girl thing, isn't it? Aren't we all guilty to one degree or another? :)

Don't we often want what others have? And let's not even start about the over inflated view of self. I think sometimes we don't even want to admit that we have any of these problems in our life, but isn't that just the over inflated view of one's self coming out?

Do you think thankfulness has anything to do with counteracting jealousy? Jealousy/covetousness isn't just about "stuff". It can be about a situation or a person or a lot of other intangible things. An area the Lord has dealt with me on is thankfulness. I am far less susecptible to be jealous over something or some situation if I am being thankful for what God has given me.

As far as being noticed, doesn't it seem like our society today paints the picture that if you are at home with your kiddos you aren't really "doing anything"? Do you think that we buy into that sometimes? I do, I think one way I believe that is by forgetting that changing diapers, peacemaking through the squabbles, cleaning up the vomit, dish washing, laundry, and dinner making are not worship to God (if done with the proper spirit). For me, the overflow of that mind frame is a lack of realization of how important what I am doing as a Mom really is in God's eyes.

Lord, thank you for your Word that instructs and teaches me. Thank you for reminding me of these truths tonight. Help me to serve you by loving others quietly and sweetly, in the sidelines of my home and heart, and to remember that this is what pleases you.

Thanks for reading the ramblings of a tired Momma who should be in bed. More exciting, disjointed, unimportant content coming soon! :)