I Want What You Have

LOVE IS PATIENT LOVE IS KIND is the name of one of our songs this summer for 5 Day Clubs. It’s great to be able to teach our summer workers to teach kids what love is when many find it hard to define. Someone once said, “No one cares what you know till they know you care”. So true! That goes for any relationship. Even marriage. My husband & I were complimented recently by someone who said, “I want what you guys have!” Funny, I wonder if he would have said that to us 30 years ago. Thankfully, what we have now is so much better & stronger. I know it’s because by God’s grace we became teachable & decided to learn how to love one another & figure out what that means. I thought I knew but really, I had no clue. But the Lord began to show me through His word & others what it looks like. I discovered it’s not about what I get but about what I give. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 explains it well. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs (forgives). . . always protects, trusts, hopes & perseveres.

 Wow!

Notice that love has everything to do with how I treat others, not how they treat me? Don’t get me wrong, love is not a doormat for others bad behavior. Boundaries are important & also show love by holding others accountable for their actions. But when I choose to respond in the ways listed above, I am showing I care about you, & you matter to me. Imagine what our relationships would look like if everyone lived this way. Putting other people's needs before my own. Jesus modelled it well by the way He lived  & again by His work on the cross. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10 Love is sacrificial & does not depend on how I feel but what I decide to do. What a blessing to learn <3

Laura Lawrence
Discovery Time Director