Standing in Love

Each generation brings its own flaws and often passes them to the next generation, sometimes without even knowing it. Then life on earth deals with us according to those flaws until we rise above those shortcomings and create a new way for the next generation to glean from.

It takes a long time to grow into the gifts of love that come from God.

   Love:

1.      Is patient

2.      Is kind

3.      Does not envy

4.      Does not boast

5.      Is not proud

6.      Does not dishonour others

7.      Is not self-seeking

8.      Is not easily angered

9.       Keeps no record of wrongs

10.    Does not delight in evil

11.    Rejoices with the truth

12.    Always protects

13.   Always trusts

13.    Always hopes

 14.   Always perseveres

And Paul ends the passage with a powerful line:

“Love never fails.” — 1 Corinthians 13:8

Number 12, protecting one another, is often the first to be lost when families break down or when a family is built on generational baggage. When protection disappears, trust (number 13) also begins to break down. Truth (number 11) can take a long time to unravel, and many people lack patience, which is number 1 on the list.

If we walk through this list of love honestly, each of us can examine our own heart and see how close we are to standing where the Lord stands in love.

It is often through the challenges of life that we find ourselves walking deeper into love.

Sometimes the deepest patterns in a family are not anger or conflict, but feelings that were never allowed to be expressed or received. When feelings are shut down generation after generation, love struggles to find its voice.

Without love, our words can become nothing more than noise.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” — 1 Corinthians 13:1

This was not only a teaching Christ gave; it was also His prayer.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am…” — John 17:24

And Christ is LOVE