These are words the pastor said in the message last Sunday. I am bringing them up today because those words couldn't ring more true, and I want to talk about it, and how it pertains to me, now in my life.
Obviously, showing you care is very important. But how far does this care really go? Well, I can tell you, it surely helps heal the broken. I am broken, and although I am going through the steps to heal, the healing wouldn't work without a whole lot of care and love.
This may not be true for everyone, after all everyone is different. But for me, care and love is the most vital aspect.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" 1 Corinthians 13:13
The Bible points out the importance of love. It says the greatest of these- the greatest. That means above the others. That must mean that love makes a pretty big difference doesn't it?
Let the truth me known, I love to love and I love love. Show me an ounce of love and I'm yours. Now, this doesn't mean I turn into a crazy stalker once someone shows me some attention, this also doesn't mean I drop my guard right away and just let easy access to my heart but when I feel you really care, I easily return the favor.
I feel it's very important that people know how loved and valued they really are. Maybe it's the teacher in me, the kind heart in me, or the fact that I know how it feels to think no one cares. So many people have made me feel completely disposable and unworthy, and I don't want anyone to ever feel that way because of me.
Love makes a world of difference. What is the best thing you can do for someone? In my opinion, it's simply to love them. Care for them. Show them that they matter- in this big, ugly world, they matter.
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Love makes a world of difference. What is the best thing you can do for someone? In my opinion, it's simply to love them. Care for them. Show them that they matter- in this big, ugly world, they matter.
"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
We are nothing without love. And without the love of Christ, we really are nothing.
Let me break this down even further. I am a teacher. One of the things I am taught as a teacher, is that before students can learn from you, they may need other needs met. If they are hungry, they aren't going to be focused on the lesson. If they feel sad, or unsafe, they aren't going to be focused on the lesson. If they are dirty or sick, they aren't going to be focused on the lesson.
If they feel unloved or are craving attention, they aren't going to be focused on the academics. BUT, if you show them love, if you give them attention, if you show them a little bit of care, then they are able to learn.
Is it just that simple? Show some care and make some gains?
Have you heard the Mark Twain quote:
"Kindness is language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see"
Kindness and love must be pretty powerful.
Oh, it is. God loves me, more than I could ever know. His love makes a difference, and it is something I am starting to feel and see and want more and more of, because I want more and more of Him.
But I wouldn't even be in this position of trying to get closer to God if it wasn't for love and caring in the first place.
I am able to go to church because I feel comfortable, cared for. Even though I don't know very many people, I always feel welcome. People greet me kindly and even the pastor let's us know how much we matter.
My counselor shows she cares. This matters to me a whole awful bunch. I strongly believe that counseling wouldn't be at a benefit for me if I didn't feel like I was cared for. If it did, the benefit wouldn't be even one tenth as strong, because knowing she cares makes a ton of difference, and I am able to grow this way.
And knowing God cares? That He loves me with a love so deep I can't even begin to understand it? Well, that really matters. It feels really good to think that I have a God that loves me so much that He sent His son to die for me so that I could spend eternity with Him in Heaven, if I just choose to believe.
What an amazing love that is. And the love that has brought me to pursuing God's love- I couldn't be more thankful. I wouldn't be on this wonderful journey of becoming close to God if it isn't for these people showing me they care.
And to think that this is only a small sampling of the love that I feel, of the love that matters.
Some people believe that material things are the best things in life, that certain things like money, a house, a car..ect. Those things make all the difference.
But I know better. The difference? Is love.
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