Sunday, February 13, 2011

Love One Another

"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32 NKJV) Mom and I get so sad when we see humans treating each other harmfully, animals fighting, and negative interaction between humans and animals. We are put on this earth to care and tend to one another, not tear each other down. Unkind words and actions come from a bad place within, purposively or not, and in turn can seriously wound the receiver. It also can stir up a lot of bad things. All this pains God because He doesn't want this for us and by us. God teaches us that we are to be kind and tenderhearted towards others. He also teaches us to "love one another even as I have loved you." God even tells us concretely what love is. In Corintians 13:4-7 (NIV) it says, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Loving can be hard, but no one ever said it was easy. Monday is Valentine's Day...a day to celebrate love. From this day on, let us all strive to love one another even as God loved us...unconditionally, kind, and tenderhearted. Love, Beau