I recently was able to make Spence a friend on Facebook, son of one of my husband's cousins - a long time friend and precious family. But we moved away before I got to know Spence very well. At a family event I was introduced to his ability to sketch and asked him to consider being a member of a gallery of Artists that I was considering blogging about. He said he would consider and when I had an opportunity to make him a friend I was glad to make the connection. But as a result, I have been able to be blessed by Spence's wonderful approach to being a young Christian man. From his facebook comments and simple testimonies of faith, it quickly became appearant that he listens to the voice of God, and seeks his will.
As a result, I wanted to share occasionally this young man's outlook, and how God speaks to his heart.
This blog: a perspective on - LOVE, by Spence Gourley
Hello all, once again. It is a lot sooner than I expected to have another thing up. But God spoke and I listened. He wants me to explain what He has taught me about love. Like always I have no set plan or expectations for this. If I did then there would be no room for the flawless mind and organization of God. He knows love better than any.
Love is explained to us in 1 Corinthians 13. So, I will start there, it seems like the right thing to do.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-13
“4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
I have read this scripture many times and my guess is that you have too. Wanting to know what true love is. How we know when we find that special someone, how we should feel towards our family and friends, how we should treat our enemies. I always got caught up in what it should feel like; how I should act to truly love someone. But I thought about it more and more and I prayed to know what true love is. Then it hit me right between the eyes! You know that feeling when you figure something out and when you do you could kick yourself because the answer was so obvious? Maybe I’m just way behind the rest of the world but it doesn’t seem like God was describing an emotion here. He was describing Himself. All of these facts are a perfect match to our Savior and Creator. With this new realization in my life I have come to many new conclusions.
Relationships are something that we try to preserve by our own power. That is why they come and go. We are finite beings so we could never create anything infinite no matter how hard we try. If something has a beginning then it is inevitable that it will have an end. The only way we can have a hope that something will last forever is to trust the promise that God made when He said, “Love never fails.” He is Love. He will never fail.
I’m just going to get to the meat, or the bones. Whichever. Anyway, we all wonder how we will know when we meet that special someone we will spend the rest of our lives with. When we meet that someone and we fall in love and the scriptures say it will never fail. That is so incredible and encouraging. But the only way we as finite beings have any hope of something infinite is to trust God, the only infinite being in existence. God is not seen. I am thankful for this. If I saw God my eyeballs would probably shoot out the back of my head. I digress. But God is Love. If two people want to fall in love then they have to share that bond that one thing in common. God is the only source of unfailing love because He is the only thing that is unfailing and flawless. We get caught up in trying to make something work by our power. We could do it but it would fall and fail with time. Anything that operates on time will be destroyed by time. If we want to be fall in true Love we must be connected by God. My dad once said, “If you go looking for love you will find something and it will fail. But if you let it find you it will be real.” This is so true. When we were sinners had no hope of survival God found us in the darkness and called out to us. It was our choice to respond back and to accept His eternal love or to leave it. It must be the same for any other love in our life because God is never changing.
We have outward appearance and beauty to attract us to one another. We could base our relationship off of this alone if we wanted but that would be relying on things we see. The true beauty that binds two people is deep within. It is my belief that God makes people in pairs. He doesn’t make them at the same “time.” But “time” doesn’t matter to God. He sees the big picture. He made us in His image (Genesis 1:27). He is infinite so He has plenty of things about Himself to make individual unique people. At the same time we all come from the same source so there is someone that is a perfect match for each and everyone of us! This is where unfailing love kicks in. We have to search deep down within someone to find that part of God that matches up with our own part of God. When those two meet they are inseparable because they are one. They are Love with is God. Be encouraged. Don’t get discouraged when you haven’t found that special someone. But instead look for God in everyone then you will find a part of him or her that will bind you forever. God is Love and He will never fail.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Spence's prayer desire for us "is to just stay patient with the lost and focused on the Savior."
Spence's prayer desire for us "is to just stay patient with the lost and focused on the Savior."
Lord, I am in agreement with Spence on this kind of love to have with our unsaved friends and family. You are willing to be patient and lead a lost soul along slowly until they see You Love them. And we must learn to stay focused on you our Savoir. If our eyes are on the things of life they overwhelm us. Thank you for being the very definition of Love, and for helping Spence share it with us so well. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment