"Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not
delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." 1 Cor. 13:4-8a (NIV)
As a wife and mother, I need a daily reminder of what love should look like in our home. As I read over 1 Corinthians 13, I realize that we are nowhere near hitting the mark on this one. While I snap at Woody as he disrupts my daily
routine with a simple request (hmmm...there goes the "not easily
angered" part), I am made painfully aware of the fact that we are
struggling to really love each other. We
keep score, we're impatient, our impatience leads to rudeness, and most of the
time (truth be told) we're self-seeking.
So how in the world do we learn to
love? Can we love as defined in these
few verses?
I must start by looking inward at how
I love. Is the love God loves me with
being transferred to the world around me and, most importantly, to my
family? Honestly? Not so much.
I struggle with the patient part of loving. And if I dig down deep, I can see that my
impatience is rooted in a self-seeking attitude. I have my ideal life all planned out, and for
some reason everyone around me isn't falling into place and taking his or her
part seriously. "What's wrong with
you?" I often ponder. "Didn't
you get the script? This is NOT how I
planned it!"
Yes, I'm very self-seeking. Therefore, I am not really loving as I should be. If I want love to reign within my home, I
must let it reign within my heart first.
One can't teach something he doesn't know how to do himself.
Loving is hard! It means living for someone or something
else. Who am I living for? If the answer is "me", what's the
point? What's to be gained in a life
lived to benefit one?
I quickly find myself on my knees
pleading for help, realizing I can't love honestly and unselfishly without
divine help. Once love is made perfect within
me, perhaps then it will be made perfect within my marriage and within my family.
(Just a reminder, if you find that my writings have helped you in anyway, you may want to purchase my book, Finding Intimacy in Marriage: A Spiritual, Emotional and Physical Journey, available on Amazon.com)
