Hola!<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s look at love, should you read further, will be convicting. I am convicted just thinking of it. And you know something\u2026 we need to be convicted. Why? I am trying to show what true love looks like by what the Bible says because pretend love is insidious. And I know this because I pretended to love God and others for most of my life.<\/p>\n
Satan so obscures and confuses and misdirects what true love is, most people have no idea what true love is. Most people think love is just an emotion\u2026 Our culture equates love with sexual gratification. As we grew up, did the music we listen to teach us what real love is? What about our boyfriends and girlfriends? How about our parents\u2026 did they exemplify true love to us? Probably not. Most love, consequently then, is learned to be used as a means to get what we want from God and others.<\/p>\n
The next time unforgiveness creeps into your heart, understand you\u2019re simply not getting what your self-centered pride demanded. Love does not demand an apology, for love keeps no record of wrongs\u2026 as we shall see later.<\/p>\n
Therefore, pretending to love God is not loving God\u2026 and if I am not loving God, then I don\u2019t have a real relationship with Him\u2026 and if I don\u2019t have a real relationship with Him, then why in the world am I going to church and small group? Or on the flip-side, is that why I don\u2019t read my Bible and\/ or go to church anymore? Let us allow God\u2019s word to expose our vileness for our own sake!<\/p>\n
1st<\/sup> Corinthians 13:5a (NKJV) Do you see this? Rude behavior is indicative of a lack of true love!<\/p>\n Proverbs 23:7 Here are some descriptions of rudeness, (cut and pasted from Merriam-Webster) synonyms:<\/em> rude<\/a>, rough<\/a>, crude<\/a>, mean lacking in social refinement. rude<\/a> implies ignorance of or indifference to good form; it may suggest intentional discourtesy <rude behavior>. rough<\/a> is likely to stress lack of polish and gentleness <rough manners>. crude<\/a> may apply to thought or behavior limited to the gross, the obvious, or the primitive <a crude joke>. Also\u2026<\/p>\n Now the application I would suggest you consider is to take these descriptions and line them up to your daily manners or common attitudes and behaviors you exhibit to those around you.<\/p>\n Are you ever intentionally discourteous? Do you ever lack gentleness toward others? Do you enjoy telling (or hearing) gross jokes? Do you react abruptly or is your self-composure easily disrupted?<\/p>\n For example: I confess that sometimes I (regretfully) allow myself to become sarcastic toward others when they offend me (injure my proud heart). I can smile and be very cordial, but spit out biting sarcasm. There have been times that my outward body language gives no indication to my inner resentment, and my sarcasm is not perceived because of it. But God knows. It is like a refined rudeness. And I\u2019ve suffered the Lord\u2019s chastisement because of it.<\/p>\n Is Jesus Christ rude to us? No! He loves us. And if you\u2019re one of His followers\u2026 then follow Him indeed! Love is not rude\u2026 either towards others or towards Jesus our Lord.<\/p>\n **Comments\/ questions\/ testimonies\/ objections most encouraged!<\/p>\n Dear Lord, thank you for this time to consider Your word and Your ways. May our thoughts, words, and deeds bring You glory\u2026 and glory to You alone. \u2013Amen<\/em><\/p>\n Peace, Hola! This week\u2019s look at love, should you read further, will be convicting. I am convicted just thinking of it. And you know something\u2026 we need to be convicted. Why? I am trying to show what true love looks like by what the Bible says because pretend love is insidious. And I know this because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11,101,13,12],"class_list":["post-276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","tag-1st-corinthians","tag-bible-study","tag-gospel","tag-love"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=276"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278,"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276\/revisions\/278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jimel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nLove\u2026 does not behave rudely\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n
\nFor as he thinks in his heart, so is he. \u201cEat and drink!\u201d he says to you, but his heart is not with you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\nJim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"