So...

February 14th used to be one of my favorite days of the year. I always had something planned for my significant other, and I always anticipated something from them. It was great. It was lovey-dovey. It was "romantic" (in every 9th-grader sense of the word).

Until I became single.

Like now.

Now I get to walk through Walmart's mountains of giant teddy bears and heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. I think most of you girls are single, and you've probably been single for your whole life. Or maybe you're single, but you have hopes and dreams that you could be with someone. And sometimes, we can get down about our situation. A lot of us don't have a problem with the holiday, but most of us look forward to the day that we can spend Valentine's with a special someone. And some of us get our buttons pushed when we see our friends having a great day with their romantic interests.

We all know about 1 Corinthians 13. But do we really get it? Do we just read all the characteristics of love and then say, "Yeah, that's great. I'll show love to my family and my friends and the people I influence." That's wonderful. But let me tell you something. There's nothing wrong with loving your future husband now, either.

Look at the characteristics of love from 1 Corinthians 13....

Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love does not envy...

Let's pause there for a second. You can love your future husband by being patient for him. You can show love to others by being kind to those people that are having a fun time with their significant other. You can love your future husband by not being envious of the couples around you, knowing that God's plan for you and your future husband is beautiful. Let's go on...

Love does not boast.
Love is not proud.
Love is dignified.
Love is not selfish.

We can love our future husbands by not boasting of how we are "following God's plan" by waiting. God's plan for you is probably much, much different than God's plan for the next person. Don't look down on someone, or act pridefully, because you don't think they are following God's will. Their life is completely different than yours, and their walk with God is only between them and God. This shows dignity, in that you are confident in God's leading in your life, but you don't judge others. We have to be very, very careful to avoid selfishness. It will mar our love, because true love is selfless. Let's look at some more.

Love is not easily angry.
Love does not think evil of another.
Love does not rejoice in iniquity.
Love rejoices in the truth.

If you are in love with God and your future husband, you should not be easily angered at your situation. It's important that we realize that God makes all things beautiful in His time. His timing is perfect for your life. Also, you should not be assuming sin of another person. This ties in with what I said earlier. Don't assume that someone else is going the "wrong" way, just because they aren't going your way. Now we see that someone showing love to another (including her future husband) does not rejoice in iniquity. She will not rejoice in rebelling against God's commandments concerning abstinence. She will instead rejoice in the truth that God knows the desires of her heart, and that God's timing is amazing. Let's see some more characteristics of love...

Love bears through all things.
Love believes through all things.
Love hopes through all things.
Love endures through all things.

"All things" is not limited to fun, fluffy things. Actually, it's a lot more likely that the point here is that love bears, believes, hopes, and endures through all hardships- small or big. A jewel of Jesus, showing the love of Jesus, and loving her future husband, will strive to show this love through all things. She will bear through hardships, because she trusts in God. She will believe God's Word and His promises. She will maintain her hope in a heavenly wedding feast with Jesus. She will endure through all things, knowing that as she shows love to others, she will be rewarded in glory.

Obviously, all these characteristics are characteristics of perfect love, and only God has perfect love. We, as human girls, will struggle through some of these things, if not all of them. Life's tough, but love's stronger.*** Ask God to help you show His love to others, including your future husband.

There's this verse that says, "She (a virtuous woman) will do him (her husband) good all the days of her life." (Proverbs 31:12). Jewels, "all days" includes today. You can truly love your future husband now. Be sure you ask for God's help, because any kind of journey of love requires a lot of strength, which only comes from God. Don't be discouraged when you struggle with something; we all do struggle with these things, more than we like to admit.

There's two more characteristics of love from 1 Corinthians 13 that I want to conclude with:

Love never fails.
Love abides forever.

Love someone today <3

Love Unconditionally—or Just as a Friend?

I’ve always been intrigued by the story of the Lord and Peter in John 21:15-17.

15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

I’ve read it over many times, and I always wondered to myself, what’s the point? Why does Jesus ask Peter the same questions over and over—three times, to be exact? I’ve heard it explained before that Jesus had to ask him three times, once for each time he had denied knowing Jesus. That could be the case, I don’t know. What’s really interesting is to see the words used here.

In verse 15, Jesus says, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?” The word “lovest” here is the Greek word “agapao”, which is the kind of wholehearted, unconditional, devoted love Jesus showed when He died for us.

Peter replies, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” Peter replies, but uses a different word—“phileo”, which means to just love like a friend.

Jesus asks again, “Simon, son of Jonas, do you agapao me?” Do you love me unconditionally, so much you’d lay down your life for me?

Peter says, “Yes, Lord; you know that I phileo you.” Peter loved Jesus like a friend but he wasn’t willing to try go agape Jesus—he’d already failed at that.

You can almost hear Jesus sigh as he asks the third time—“Simon, son of Jonas, do you phileo me?” Are you even willing to love me like a friend, Peter?

Peter was (naturally) very distressed at this point. Here Jesus had been asking him to lay down his life for Him, and he wasn’t sure he had the strength to do that. So he replied, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I phileo you.” Peter was so ashamed of his denial of Jesus, and he wanted to make things right but he was afraid he wasn’t up to the task the Lord had set for him. Thankfully, we know history and we know that, in the end, he did end up agapaing Jesus—he died for Him.

I find this bit of scripture very interesting because here, very soon before Jesus went up to heaven, he’s testing Peter. Seeing how far he’s willing to go.

And that makes me think of myself, of my own life. Of the fear that I have. What if I don’t agapao Jesus? What if my love is only phileo? Would I still stand strong for Jesus if I had to choose between Him or my life? I find it pretty scary to think about. Because I don’t think I am that strong. I don’t think I have enough faith. And that’s scary.

So I pull out my Bible and read, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (1 Corinthians 12:9) And my fear is stilled.

Now it’s your turn. What do you think Jesus’ purpose was in talking with Peter like this? Do you agapao Jesus? Or is it just a phileo love? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Blessings,
Esther

First photo courtesy La Vista Church of Christ Pictures.

A poem

well sort of- a try

Loving, living, falling, again
loving, living, falling, again;

We are so terribly faithless
yet He in grace makes us blameless
dying, crying, living again
dying, crying, living again;

But this grace we often use
wasn't meant to be purposely abused
falling, barfing, repeating (again)
falling,  barfing, repeating (again)

But this grace is sufficient when we really choose
in our old ways we will terribly lose
crying, rising, loving again
crying, rising, loving again;

only then only then will we be free
and we shall for a while sit on his knee
for we will be
loving, living, falling again
loving, living, falling again

but remember he is always there
to wipe every tear
and teach us
not to follow the things we lust
for he is
Amazing, Saving, Loving again and again
Amazing, Saving, Loving over and over again!