1 Corinthians 13

Love.

Love is what created us, what moves us, and what we were created to do. And I can think of very little to describe the Love of God for us, and the Love we are to have for each other more than this chapter.

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

~ Love never gives up.
~ Love cares more for others than for self.
~ Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
~ Love doesn't strut,
~ Doesn't have a swelled head,
~ Doesn't force itself on others,
~ Isn't always "me first,",
~ Doesn't fly off the handle,
~ Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
~ Doesn't revel when others grovel,
~ Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
~ Puts up with anything,
~ Trusts God always,
~ Always looks for the best,
~ Never looks back,
~ But keeps going to the end.

Love never does. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives our incompletes will be canceled. When i was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good. We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before teh weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

(and this is my favorite favorite part)

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

1 Corinthians 12

vs 2 ... Remember how you were when you didn't know God, led from one phony god to another, never knowing what you were doing, just doing it because everybody else did it? It's different in this life. God wants us to use our intelligence, to seek to understand as well as we can.

I remember what it was like before I met God all too well. I was sad - all.the.time. I was empty. I could never get enough, of anything. I struggled, I cried, I pretended everything was okay. I desperately searched for happiness anywhere I could find it. by the time I finally went back to church at the age of 24, I had almost completely destroyed myself.

I think of the story of the Prodigal Son quite often. While I had been away from God, I had committed horrible sins, I had hurt countless people. I was battered, broken, dying. I had taken so long to go to church because I had feared harsh judgment, not just by people, by by God. Instead, I was embraced, forgiven, loved. God was not concerned about the road I had taken to get back to Him - He was just glad I was back.

vs 27 ... You are Christ's body - that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything.

I have loved the "parts of the body" comparison since the very first time I heard it. I have always felt awkward and out of place. I was never pretty or thin enough to be part of the "it" crowd. Never athletic enough for the jocks. Too citified for the countryfolk, too countrified for the cityfolk. I didn't even really fit in with the dorks. I was always just me becoming a Christian and a part of the Body of Christ was huge for me. I belonged. I mattered. I had a place and I had purpose. Now I just have to figure out what it is, which I haven't been able to do yet. Thankfully, God is patient.

1 Corinthians 11

Ok, I realize that this chapter touches on two very very important things, but I have to write the conversation that just took place after reading this chapter.

First of all, regarding marriage. I'm not quite in a position to comment about marriage today, as the past couple of weeks have provided some discussion and frustration both in my house and with some friends. There are some points that I need to ponder before I write about it.

Then, Paul addresses communion, and I don't feel I'm quite qualified to discuss that, either. Paul makes it very clear to not make a mockery of the act, and I suppose I could go through a diatribe of all of the acts we take all together too lightly ... but would you really be patient enough to read all of that? Face it, that's one huge long list.

So, instead of all that, I'm going to go here instead. As I've said before, I'm truly enjoying reading the message version of the Bible, and today was no exception.

vs 34 ... If you're so hungry that you can't wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. ...

Wait.

Did Paul just tell the Corinthians to go home and eat a sammich? Because that is THE Awesome! Here's the conversation that followed:

Me: Wait, did Paul just tell the Corinthians to go home and eat a sammich????

Hubby: (laughing Um ... yeah, I think he just did!

Me: A sammich! That's awesome!!

Hubby: But what kind of sammich would he have eaten?

Me: Not a ham sammich, that's for sure!

Hubby: Turkey? Did they have turkeys?

Me: I think they had "foul". What about deer? A deer sammich.

Hubby: Or something with just vegetables?

Me: Ohhh, hummus! He was telling them to go home and have a hummus pita!

Red: A hummus pita! With tzatziki! Now THAT is what I'm talking about!!! Wait ... weren't we talking about communion? Because, now I'm hungry...





Amen.

Changes around here

Time to change the blog around - I haven't been very attentive to the blog. Mostly because there is such a wide variety of things I want to say. So, from here on out, this will just be my Bible Study, and there will be other places for my insane running commentary.