I did as I said I would do and I asked my mom what she prayed for when she prayed for me. I also told my children what I prayed when I prayed for them and how they could prophecy those prayers that had already been established in the heavens. When I began telling them about my prayer for them I realized I hadn't actually blessed and prayed over them in a while. I pray for them daily but I had not blessed them or prayed over their physical bodies in quite some time so it is something that I need to start doing again. This week I am moving on from Hebrews Chapter 11 and on to 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, the chapter that talks about Charity (Love). I think this chapter of scripture is well needed in my life right now. I never want Gods love to grow cold in me but I know that I can grow indifferent easily; for me it is a coping mechanism but in this hour I cannot afford to not concern myself with others. God recently brought people to mind that I thought I had forgiven; when he did I responded "no I have forgiven them". His question to me was "why don't you pray for them then?" He was right as always so I prayed for them and since then I pray for them often. Even though I had purposed to forgive them and verbalized that forgiveness there was still something there that kept record of the offense. There is one person in particular that God brings to my mind more frequently than others. It was hard to even get to the place of saying that I forgave them because the wrong done against me was great; but I got there with God's help and I am grateful because I want to experience God in all of his fulness and holding on to unforgiveness even when it seems justified could never be worth not receiving all God has for me. I haven't been given any details as to why I am being prompted to pray for the person so often...it may just be something God is doing in me and if so I am grateful for that too...I will obey and pray!
1 Corinthians 13 (The Passion Translation)
Love, the Motivation of Our Lives
If I were to speak with eloquence in earth’s many languages, and in the heavenly tongues of angels, yet I didn’t express myself with love, my words would be reduced to the hollow sound of nothing more than a clanging cymbal.
And if I were to have the gift of prophecy with a profound understanding of God’s hidden secrets, and if I possessed unending supernatural knowledge, and if I had the greatest gift of faith that could move mountains, but have never learned to love, then I am nothing.
And if I were to be so generous as to give away everything I owned to feed the poor, and to offer my body to be burned as a martyr, without the pure motive of love, I would
gain nothing of value.
Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.
Perfect Love
Love never stops loving. It extends beyond the gift of prophecy, which eventually fades away. It is more enduring than tongues, which will one day fall silent. Love remains long after words of knowledge are forgotten. Our present knowledge and our prophecies are but partial, but when love’s perfection arrives, the partial will fade away. When I was a child, I spoke about childish matters, for I saw things like a child and reasoned like a child. But the day came when I matured, and I set aside my childish ways.
For now we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteries as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face. My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood. Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love – yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.
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