Yesterday, I went to a bible study in the middle of lunch. The teaching was about love. It made me think about what true love was, and how Jesus tells us to love one another.
Most people today think that love is a feeling you get when you look at a boy or girl and just want to stick your tongue down their throat. That's not love. It's called "Lust". The Bible is pretty clear on what TRUE love is. It says so in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, boastful, proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable and keeps no record of wrongs. It does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
This might not be in everyone's bibles because I shortened a few repeated bits ("love is patient, love is kind" in NIV, for example), but the main message is still there.
I like to take things apart, look at them, and apply them to my life.
First, "Love is patient." I would say I'm a pretty patient person. Except with Matt. I'm also rather unkind and rude to him. I vow from today onward, that I won't, to the best of my ability, be rude, unkind or impatient with him, even though it's totally his fault that he says the things he does (seriously, I'm not making him say ANYTHING infuriating to me, he does it all on his own).
"Love is kind." I'm rather kind, I would say. I don't go out of my way to be unkind to anyone or anything. So far, the first two I've got down (not saying I'm perfect or that I'm 100% lovely and patient and kind; this is just what I figure right now. It may change in the future).
"Love is not jealous." I can be jealous sometimes, but who isn't? Actually, I just realized that I can be pretty jealous alot. But on the inside, and I only reveal this side of myself to my mother. I see the rich kids at my school and get rather angry at them, thinking, "oh, you think you're SOOOO good because your parents have SOOO much money and you can just wave bills around like Bill Gates at a strip club. WELL FFFF YOU!!" I know that's very un-christian of me, but it's how I feel on the inside--I don't act on it. I just happen to get rather angry when I see these overpriviledged teenagers ride around the city in their fancy new cherry-red mustangs and think, "Did you EVER lift ONE FINGER to help pay for that car?" I guess they might have, but they didn't pay for it all the way. For me, when I earn enough for a vehicle, it's going to be all on me. Because my family's po. Not poor--po. So poor we can't even afford the other "or". Nah, just kidding, we've got a fine house and we have internet and cable TV and other luxuries that I'm not going to complain about, but in all truth, if God wanted us to be Republican, he would have made all Christians rich. xD I'm not Republican or Democrat, by the way, I'm not a very political person. But I have my opinions.
"Love is not proud." Okay, "pride" can either be a good thing or a bad thing. You can be proud to be an American, a Londoner, a Berliner, or to have a fine son that became president of the United States. Or you can be proud in general, not willing to sink so low as to help starving children in Africa because your money is "too good" for that stuff, or help a certain person trying to earn an honest living on the streetcorner because they're not worth your time and they should just get a real job. People working on streetcorners are human beings too. So, Love is not proud in the latter sense, but I think it isn't proud in the "good" sense, either. Jesus told us to be humble. Pride is not humble. Pride is, in fact, the opposite of humility. So Love is humble as well. I would say that I'm humble when it comes to loving others. I don't take pride in much, and I certainly don't take pride in knowing that I love certain people. Love is humble, plain and simple.
"Love is not boastful." It does not boast. What exactly does it mean to boast? Dictionary.com says:
–verb (used without object)
1. to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride, esp. about oneself.
This coincides with the previous statement--pride. Love isn't prideful, nor boastful. It doesn't exaggerate all of the good things it's done (nor the bad) and, to reiterate, is humble.
I just realized that I switched the last two. But it's all good. 8D
"Love is not rude." I'll admit, the only person I'm ever rude to is Matt. That's it. Anyone else, you have to get down to HIS level if you so much as want a taste of my wrath. But, I'm trying to do better in loving people, especially strangers, so you just might not ever see my bad side again.
"Love does not demand its own way." Another translation says, "it is not self-seeking." I see this to mean, "Love is neighborly." Love doesn't look out for numero uno--in fact, there is no "numero uno." Love sees all as equal. From the richest man to the poorest, from the darkest skinned to the lightest, from the east to the west, from tallest to shortest, from gay to straight, from lonely to popular--Love sees none of these. Personally, I don't think I seek my own way. Maybe only with God--when I plan something done my way. Which is never God's way, by the way. Today was a great example, but that's another story...
"Love is not irritable." Love is not easily angered. This coincides with patience--which I often do not have much of with Matt, but I'm getting better. On the inside, I can be angered easily with him, but lately, on the outside, I don't show it. Love is always (no pun intended) lovely. It's friendly and doesn't get angry, even if it is angry on the inside.
"Love keeps no record of wrongs." Love doesn't hold grudges. I'm not much of a grudge person, believe me. I'm still friends with people who have wronged me MILLIONS of times in the past, and I still love them. I don't have to like them 100%, but I still love them.
"Love does not delight in evil." Okay, I can truly say that I have delighted in evil--however innocent it was. It wasn't COMPLETELY evil, trust me, but eh, evil is evil. I think this one is going to be the hardest to break out of, because evil is LOADS of fun. But just because you're a Christian, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't have fun anymore. There are many non-evil fun things to do out there, trust me.
"Love rejoices in the truth." Some translations say that love rejoices with the truth. I think it's all the same thing, unless someone can prove me wrong. I certainly know that I rejoice in truth--maybe not have a party over it, but I enjoy it. Even if the truth is painful and ugly, I still enjoy it--because it's the TRUTH. There's nothing more real than the truth, and that's the truth.
"Love never gives up." I'm a giver-up-er, fo sho. I tried out for volleyball one year, and when I nearly passed out because I didn't have enough air in my lungs, I gave up the idea of joining the volleyball team 100%. Then I played Mirror's Edge and thought, "WHOA THIS IS SO RAD! I WANT TO DO THIS!" So I planned on joining a Track team to help me start running, but the volleyball failure came back to haunt me, so I gave up on that dream. But then again, I didn't love volleyball or track. I do love Parkour, though. Maybe, if I get really serious, I should take it up again?
"Love never loses faith." Another toughie. I'm a person that loses faith alot--not in God, but in other people. I trust God 100%. It's humans that I don't trust. I know how faulty humans are--I mean, just look at me. I don't always follow through, even if I really mean to. I know it's a kind of selfish way to look at things, but I understand that I can be selfish. I accept that. I just need to working on trusting others.
"Love is always hopeful." I'm not sure about how hopeful I am. I mean, I HOPE that one day, I will earn enough money to buy a ukulele for myself. But the word "hope" can be so negative today. Say, a boss comes up to you and asks you if a certain co-worker did what he/she told you to tell him/her to do. If you say, "I hope so," then it will make your boss doubt the working ability of both you and your co-worker. He/She just might fire you both, because you can't give effective orders and your co-worker can't follow them. So, hope can be bad. But Mickey D's on the corner is selling Hope in happy meals--so there must be some redemption for this word.
"Love endures through every circumstance." Some translations will say, "Love never fails." As humans, we all fail. I probably fall into the percentage that fail more than most--but failing can be subjective, depending on who you are. To some, losing a race is only a failure if you didn't try your best, and to others, "if you're not first, you're last".
I began to write this last week, on Thursday, but I was really tied up on the weekend, so I couldn't finish it. xD
So, what's the point of this blog entry?
Love more. Love in the way that true love was meant to be. Not in the lovey-dovey "fall in love" hug kiss affectionate whatnot that the world has twisted it to be, but the way the Bible sees it. If you forget how to truly love, that's okay, we all are failing creatures anyway. Just do your best not to do it again. 8D
PC has mid-lunch bible studies?
ReplyDeleteFreshman year, I used to eat lunch with Kara in Hoffpauir's room, under the promise we were studying the Bible/praying. She did it---I didn't. As a freshman, I was bitter I had to go to a Christian school.
I think it's kind of cool that you quoted 1 Corinthians 13:4-7---I actually recognize it since I had it for a Bible verse once.
I don't think I would have the patience to pick it apart, in writing, the way you did.
I also noticed you mention Matthew and money a lot in your blog. I don't think I've ever felt angry/bitter/whatever toward rich people. I guess money's never mattered to me because I've never had to work for it/have it matter for stuff like bills. I mean, I know what it's like not to have it, either, cuz my dad's just a teacher, but I've never been like, "If only I had more money!" or "Damn those people who can afford luxuries!" I've just been like, "Eh, I'm alive. I've got bigger problems."
I never knew that you tried out for volleyball/track! I never considered trying out for either cuz I didn't know the rules to either and I was afraid to look like an idiot---I was afraid to let everyone down. I was afraid of not making the team at all. I thougt I was too worthless to join the team; yet, simultaneously, I thought jocks were low-lifes. I'd always believed the stereotype that athletic people were conceited airheads who could run for miles or lift loads and never break a sweat. I think I believed a lot of stereotypes for a long time till I actually tried running.
But yeah, you shouldn't give up on exercise just cuz you run out of breath fast. A lot of athletic people have asthma (even if you don't---but I'm just mentioning their breathlessness).
I'd always believed runners were people who could hold a conversation, eat a sandwich, and comb their hair at the same time---I thought they never got tired. Later, I found out lots of runners don't like to talk when they run---besides, holding a comfortable conversation while running shows you're not actually trying your hardest.
In the beginning, I was breathless easy, too. It's probably cuz the heart's a muscle and I wasn't used to working it yet. The more you work your muscles, the stronger they get; the more you're forced to fill your lungs with more air as you run, the bigger they get, so, in time, running gets easier. When I first started with Jordan she said, "Running's like writing or drawing. It takes time and practice."
When I first graduated, I wanted to be such a better person---I wanted to be more outgoing, more loving, and stuff. I don't know where that person went. These days, I'm too busy to feel anything.