Saturday, July 7, 2012

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE!


In case you haven’t already picked up on my grand scheme of things;  I am a huge advocate of LOVE.  Love in every sense of the word…  I truly believe that being a true Christian is about Love!  I mean, Jesus clearly told the Pharisees that the two greatest commandments were: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it:* You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”   Jesus didn’t tell us to only love on some days, or on days that I woke up on the right side of the bed.  He didn’t tell me to love the person who bagged my groceries correctly or not show love to the lesbian couple who said hello to me in the deli section.  He was pretty straight forward on these two commandments….

I truly believe and constantly am advising not only my family but those that I come across with that Christianity is  Love!  However, explaining that concept to three children maybe a bit more challenging ~ trust me!  So, I had to be a little more creative. 

·        *First, PRAY!!!
o   I know it sounds cliché…  But, you will be amazed how you will be directed…  
·       * Secondly, I described the three different types of love:
o   Philio – Brotherly Love
o   Eros – Husband/Wife Love
o   Agape – Unconditional Love
·        *Thirdly, we created a game of different scenarios of how we show love.  I told the kids that sometimes we don’t want to because we are angry or hurt (we are human, these emotions are natural) but what we do with these emotions are key!
o   Ie:  What do we do when we are being bullied?   What should we do when a someone comes up to us and starts to gossip?  What do we do when we see someone doing something wrong?  What should you do when you don’t want to do the “right thing” anymore?
      Etc… <>
·        *Lastly, Accountability!  We are blessed, our kids tell us everything – sometimes, a little more than what we are comfortable knowing. But, we’ll take it – I believe that I’d rather have that than nothing at all!  We have made it a habit to use dinner-time as our re-cap!  At times, our re-cap can turn into life-lessons and it will be a long two hour dinner.  Nonetheless, we take that opportunity to let the kids know how they handled their situations and possibly where they should have flourished love instead!  

      But, the fact that they have someone(s) to go to is key.  It may not always be us.  The children know that they have other persons that they are allowed to reach out to that we trust will lead them in a Christ-filled direction, if need be.  We all need that person(s) that we can fall back to – accountability to assist us on this journey called Life! 


Grab that Journal:
As we get older and inundated with schedules and chaos we must remember that “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” 1Corinthians 13:7 

Have you lost sight of the importance of love in your daily activities and life?  What should you do to kick start the love factor in your life?

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