Home is a beautiful thing. By God's grace I am back in Branson for a few weeks this month! I have been away for a whole year. In this past year I've been able to work with the School of Biblical Studies in Kona, Hawaii, teach in different ministries on the University of the Nations campus, and lead a team of Bible teachers to Mongolia. In the midst of all that God has been stirring up my heart for India more than ever before.
So, I was going through my old papers from my School of Biblical Studies (which I did in '06-'07) and I came across a paper I wrote about 1st Corinthians 13. I thought I would share it. I realized that 25 year old Bekah has a lot to learn from 20 year old Bekah.
"I told myself I would not do an application on love this week. I told myself it was too cliche'. Well, thankfully God is never cliche' and His word never loses it's power. I have read 1 Corinthians 13 probably 50 times. I have heard countless messages on it and referenced it in several conversations. Yet, I have not even begun to grasp the concept of love. As I read it again, and began to chart it, my heart began to beat faster as the strong desire for love flooded my entire being. Love has been so misrepresented. When I think of love I think of the kind of love in the movies where the guy and girl are destined to be together and they kiss under the stars as gushy music plays. Or I think of the way I use the word love. I love everything--burritos, my wrists, my best friend's cat, the shower curtain, candy canes...the list goes on. I use love for every feeling of favor I have. I also use it flippantly for the people in my life. I use it as a way to get off the phone with my mom. Seriously! All this floods into my head as I meditate on love.
The kind of love Paul is talking about astounds me. How is it possible to love somebody like that? That kind of love has not even a tint of selfishness. It is not a strong feeling of favor towards somebody. It's not a tingly feeling inside. It's complete abandonment of all selfish desires, and it is completely supernatural. This brings me to the coolest thing ever---God loves me like this! I've never thought of it in this way before, but this love that Paul talks about is completely pure love, which only comes from the heart of God. This means that God's love for me is patient and kind, and that it keeps no record of wrongs. His love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. His love never ends. My mind cannot fathom this love, so I will stop trying to figure it out, and just receive it with my heart wide open.
This greater understanding of God's love for me spurs me on to to love others. I've always liked how Paul says love bears all things, but I've never completely understood it so I looked up the word "bear". It means to roof over or cover with silence (S#G4722.) I really thought about this and I thought of how my love doesn't seem to cover much. I can be very easily provoked and offended. Sometimes, I feel myself looking for a way to get mad at someone. Peter says that love covers over a multitude of sin (1 Peter 4:8.) How much sin does my love cover over? God's love has covered over all my sins and He sees them no more. I want my love to be the same. I want to cover people in love, to literally shower them in the love of God.
My heart is yearning for love to flow through it in a more complete way. I am longing to hold people whose hearts are broken and pour love over them. Sometimes, I hold back on fully loving people and stepping in love because I have fear that they will reject it. But, I feel God pulling on my heart, to let go and love. To go and hug when He says to, and to speak love over people as He leads me to. This calling of love in my heart is getting louder and louder, and I don't want to ignore it anymore. The world is crying out for love, and God hears it, and wants to use His people to spread His love to the dying world. Please God, fill me with your love, and send me to your broken people."
I feel so old. I feel like I've changed so much since I wrote this. And God wants me to long for His love with that same passion. Thank you, God, for reminding me who You are and who You want me to be.
So, I was going through my old papers from my School of Biblical Studies (which I did in '06-'07) and I came across a paper I wrote about 1st Corinthians 13. I thought I would share it. I realized that 25 year old Bekah has a lot to learn from 20 year old Bekah.
"I told myself I would not do an application on love this week. I told myself it was too cliche'. Well, thankfully God is never cliche' and His word never loses it's power. I have read 1 Corinthians 13 probably 50 times. I have heard countless messages on it and referenced it in several conversations. Yet, I have not even begun to grasp the concept of love. As I read it again, and began to chart it, my heart began to beat faster as the strong desire for love flooded my entire being. Love has been so misrepresented. When I think of love I think of the kind of love in the movies where the guy and girl are destined to be together and they kiss under the stars as gushy music plays. Or I think of the way I use the word love. I love everything--burritos, my wrists, my best friend's cat, the shower curtain, candy canes...the list goes on. I use love for every feeling of favor I have. I also use it flippantly for the people in my life. I use it as a way to get off the phone with my mom. Seriously! All this floods into my head as I meditate on love.
The kind of love Paul is talking about astounds me. How is it possible to love somebody like that? That kind of love has not even a tint of selfishness. It is not a strong feeling of favor towards somebody. It's not a tingly feeling inside. It's complete abandonment of all selfish desires, and it is completely supernatural. This brings me to the coolest thing ever---God loves me like this! I've never thought of it in this way before, but this love that Paul talks about is completely pure love, which only comes from the heart of God. This means that God's love for me is patient and kind, and that it keeps no record of wrongs. His love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. His love never ends. My mind cannot fathom this love, so I will stop trying to figure it out, and just receive it with my heart wide open.
This greater understanding of God's love for me spurs me on to to love others. I've always liked how Paul says love bears all things, but I've never completely understood it so I looked up the word "bear". It means to roof over or cover with silence (S#G4722.) I really thought about this and I thought of how my love doesn't seem to cover much. I can be very easily provoked and offended. Sometimes, I feel myself looking for a way to get mad at someone. Peter says that love covers over a multitude of sin (1 Peter 4:8.) How much sin does my love cover over? God's love has covered over all my sins and He sees them no more. I want my love to be the same. I want to cover people in love, to literally shower them in the love of God.
My heart is yearning for love to flow through it in a more complete way. I am longing to hold people whose hearts are broken and pour love over them. Sometimes, I hold back on fully loving people and stepping in love because I have fear that they will reject it. But, I feel God pulling on my heart, to let go and love. To go and hug when He says to, and to speak love over people as He leads me to. This calling of love in my heart is getting louder and louder, and I don't want to ignore it anymore. The world is crying out for love, and God hears it, and wants to use His people to spread His love to the dying world. Please God, fill me with your love, and send me to your broken people."
I feel so old. I feel like I've changed so much since I wrote this. And God wants me to long for His love with that same passion. Thank you, God, for reminding me who You are and who You want me to be.
