Above all Else... LOVE

It's very rare that I get to visit with my mom these days without one of my children hoarding all of her attention!

Which in one sense, I find it truly amazing that they love her more than life itself, but in another... I get a little envious of their time together; and I long for some of her undivided attention myself!:)

Well, today, I left the kids at home with their daddy and I got to spend some quality time with my mom... not an all day ordeal mind you, but just a couple of hours.... just she and I talking and sharing the ups and downs of our lives. I was in udder bliss:)

As we began talking and sharing some things, I began to quickly realize what we were both struggling with in our lives... LOVE

And I'm not talking about the love shown between eachother (mom and I) or in our family and so forth... although I am quick to realize that there are times in our lives that all families struggle with showing love for eachother and fail to treat eachother with the love that God expects of us, but it saddens me to say that I'm speaking of the love that we are to be showing one another as, Christians. (notice I set that word apart... because as Christians we are supposed to be set apart from the world and not be "of" the world..we are supposed to be different.)

I think as Christians, living for Christ, we forget sometimes, I know I do, that above all else, we are to LOVE one another.

God says in 1 John 3:18, "Dear Children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions." He goes onto to say in chap 4 verse 7, "Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God-for God is love."

God also says, "the greatest commandment is to LOVE."

I think the human side of us wants to skip over that part. As I was sharing with my mom, I was wrestling with the fact that people can be sooo mean (and I'm not excluding myself from that statement!) We forget that as Christians, our obligation to one another is to build eachother up in Christ! So why do we spend so much time hurting one another and tearing eachother down?

I, for one, am going to work on this commandment that God has given us...

1 Thess 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build up one another just as you are also doing."

So, as you go to work, school, church, or wherever this week.... I want to encourage you to LOVE one another and build each other up!

Despite anyone's faults, wrong doings, or whatever it may be that you don't like about someone; they're still your brother and sister in Christ and God tells us to Love. Besides; we have WORK to do! There's no time for all that!:)

Love ya'll! Strive to be Different!