November 14

We don't see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing Him directly just as He knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:

Trust steadily in God

Hope unswervingly

Love extravagantly

And the best of the three is Love

1 Corinthians 13: 12-13 (The Message Translation)

We have all read and heard 1 Corinthians 13 many times. Sometimes, I like to look at the way Eugene Peterson translates scripture in "The Message".  It can make me "hear" it in a different way.  That is what happened when I read this passage prompted by "The Upper Room" last month. The daily devotion was entitled "The Gift of Love". I think in the past, I have thought of romantic love in this passage because it is heard at many weddings. But I now realize it refers to God's love, which is a very different type of love. God's love encompasses all the types of love we think of, as well as some we don't. We certainly understand how to love our spouse or our children or our dear friends, but what does it mean to love our neighbor as ourselves or even our enemies? I think we all struggle with that. I am not sure as flawed humans we are capable of loving our neighbor, but I do know from personal experience, with God's help, we can even love our enemies. We all have people in our lives we struggle with. I urge all of us to pray for our hearts to be changed and for the strength to see those we struggle with through the eyes of God. Amen.