Yesterday evening I was praying for wisdom on how to handle a situation that needed me to make a decision that would affect someone else's well-being. I know that's a bit vague but anywho... this blog is the reply I received as a reply to my prayer:
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"We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." - John 4:19-21
"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." - John 13:35
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NANDI: Okay Lord, I hear that. So, all men will not know that I'm Your disciple by how many scriptures I can quote or how many hours I spend in church? Or how "good" [read: self-righteous] I am? ... Okay, that seems pretty simple. But, what is Love?
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"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 trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away...
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, 13
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.
We know that we live in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and He in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
The one who fears is not made perfect in love." - 1 John 4:7-18
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NANDI: That's a mouthful Lord but I hear You LOUD AND CLEAR:-) Thank You for loving me enough to patiently repeat lessons You've taught me before. You really ARE LOVE.
Love Reigns
