You're Doing It Wrong!

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Never haughty, or selfish, or rude.  Love does not demand its own way.  It is not irritable or touchy.  It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong.  ~1 Corinthians 13:5 The Book

How often do we become offended when others are not loving us as we think….we know...at least we think we know God’s truth tell us to love.  How often do others blame us for becoming grieved due to their lack of desire to love well?  How often are our motives for taking a stand to speak, about their unlovely actions, from a place of love?  How often is the compelling force of our speech coming from an unrighteous plot of hardheartedness?

Did you notice in the above passage the words never, does not, is not and there is just one hardly ever mentioned for us to actually take notice of?  Don’t we usually find in situations that we condemn others in our own demanded rights to love only as we see fit? After all how can our love be wrong, isn’t it our love to give or not give?  Here in is the vital difference: from where is your ability to love emanating? 

Worldly love is haughty, selfish and rude because the other people are loved when they give into making the other feel lifted up, special, accepted, supported.  It has less to actually do with the actual people; and more to do with their participation in these special feelings; they must stick around to continually feed the otherwise empty love tank.  Love cannot be generated from nothing, it must emanate from something.  Otherwise it is a delusion, right?

People act the right way to keep others from becoming irritable, touchy, having a reason to hold a grudge……and noticing that they are doing it wrong.  But acting loving and being loving are two different relationships.  When a person is acting loving and they get their way, having been unloving already toward another; afterward they will become even more unloving if the grieved individual is perceived as irritable or touchy.  If they give in and do not get their way they will usually become irritable, touchy and definitely hold a grudge to boast about in the future. 

Being loving is quite different.  A loving person gives others the benefit and is willing to suffer a perceived loss if it benefits unity, peace and the glory of God.  Love emanating out from the love of Christ will always show His heart for others. And if this person becomes haughty, rude and it is noticed I pray it is noticed by the Holy Spirit and there will hardly ever be a time when another person would have to mention it first. 

The truth is the only go ahead God has given us to notice and to speak up regarding IS when someone is loving “loving wrong” and claiming to be a follower of Christ.  If they are loving wrong something in the list below would have to be the culprit:

•          Somewhere God isn’t coming first in their life; somewhere their spouse isn’t coming second, after God, in their life; somewhere their children are not coming third, after their spouse under God,  in their life; somewhere the actions of their life are not lining up with the character of God, found in Christ Jesus.

If our life is point others away from Christ in any area, at any time then the love and humility of Christ is being overshadowed by our haughty, rude, selfish, demanding, irritable, and touchy human nature.  If however we turn to Christ, humble ourselves in the power of His grace, we can love more deeply, be satisfied, and joyful…..even when we do not get our way or feel loved by others well.

We know that this life will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever.  In light of this let us examine our love, believing in Him who loved us first.  And make sure He is not only the ground we are standing upon, but also the One whom we are defending in love.  

May Christ be glorified in all we think, say and do, that God and His Kingdom may be what is honored in our life – Because He lives in us.

Kisses,

Candace

© 2016 by Candace Huffmaster

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