1 Corinthians 13:4-7

"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 truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

This is one of my favorite verses along with so many others in the Word of God. We should practice this kind of love in our daily life. This is a great example of what Christ acted like here on earth and the way He always acts, He does not envy, as we do, He does not boast, as we do, He is not proud, as we are, He is not rude, like us, He is not self-seeking, as we are, He is not easily angered, like we are, He keeps no record of wrong when we ask for forgiveness, as we do. Christ is love; the reason He came down from Heaven and died a horrible death to save us worthless sinners, is because He is love. We need to show people the same love that Christ showed all people. Is it hard? of course it's hard, but we must persevere through the tough times and turn to God for help. This is what I try to practice daily, I want to be the man that, is trustworthy, that can protect the ones he loves, that can persevere under trials that come his way and that doesn't seek things for himself. Will it be hard? sure, but I'll put my trust in Christ and he will guide me. Like Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." That's why I have nothing to fear and neither should you, this is not something Christ is asking, but is commanding us to do. In Matthew 22:36-39 Jesus says that loving others is the second greatest COMMANDMENT, with Loving God being the first. Which means that it is law and we shouldn't take it lightly. The real problem is that, the real meaning of love has been done away with in this world, we tell our girlfriends, boyfriends and other people that's in our lives that we love them and yet it's not the same love that Christ talks about. Romans 12:9-10 says "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves." Lots of people these days aren't sincere when they say "I love you." They just want the other person to think they're nice. Now are all people like that? no, they're lots of Christians out there that understand the love of Christ and practice it daily, but the word love in this world has really lost its value. I would like to close with this, if you don't love then you can't know God and I can say this because in 1 John 4:8 it says "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

To God be the Glory

1 John 2:15-17

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

How many times do we catch ourselves loving the world and believe we still love God? Well it just said that if we love the world then we can't love God. In other words, you either hate the world and love God or love the world and hate God. The choice is yours, but make sure you choose wisely because it's your soul your dealing with and if you wrongly choose, then it'll cost you everything. Are Christians going to struggle with loving the world? Absolutely, I know I find myself loving the things of this world and turn them into idols, but then the Holy Spirit calls me out and I repent and turn from my evil. The major issue these days is that people call themselves Christians and yet are in love with the very thing God hates. They crave sinful things, they lust with their eyes, and boast about themselves, and yet they will suffer an eternal death because they loved the creation more than the creator. See it doesn't matter if you know God, what matters is that God knows you. Heres an example, if you walk up to the front gate of the White House and say to the security guard "I know the President, please let me in." You know what he's going to say? He's going to look at you and say "yeah right," but now if you walk up to the gate and the President says he knows you and is expecting you, then you will be able to enter. The Same thing with God, if you say you know God, but God doesn't know you. Then you loved the world and disowned God so then God will have to disown you because God can not be with sin. It says in 2 Timothy 2:12b that "if we disown Him, He will also disown us;" So stand firm in the faith because this world and everything in it will pass away, but if we surrender ourselves to Christ and do His will. Then we will spend our eternity in Heaven with Him.

To God be the Glory!