Words Of Encouragement To Start The Day ( Thursday 10/23/08)

God Rules By Love, Not By Force, How Do You Rule? Part IV

1 John 4:18-19 (Amplified Bible)
18There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].
19We love Him, because He first loved us.

I was talking with a friend months ago and they were relaying a stories of a marriage gone wrong. As the story unfolded it spoke of unrest and a time in the person life where uncertainty was an everyday occurrence. Never knowing when their spouse would enter the house, what would be the mood of the day, or the complaint of the day. If they were spending time with the children and the spouse came home everyone held their breath waiting in hopes that it would be a good night. As they waited for the first words to be spoken, to determine the temperature of the house, every one's heart was pounding and their minds raced with fear, dread and anticipation,of what would come next. This was an every night occurrence for almost 7 years of the 15 years they were married. As I listened I wondered how, or why that would be.

When love is matured through Christ it is a love that can bring peace into an otherwise non-peaceful situation, it is settling and completing. It can soothe and bring calm, it does not walk in with demands and orders of the day. God through us can bring comfort and wholeness. The people that we claim to love should not be in fear or anticipation of what negativism we will bring into the house, work environment or any place we go. Our Goal should be to love as God's loves us. To be in service one to another. Love is not self- serving it is all about those whom the love is directed at. We can sway and guide an entire family by the love that we show if it is steeped in the Word Of God and His Will. We can give balance to an unbalanced situation with the way we approach and deal with those around us. If we can allow ourselves to see through the eyes of Christ.

Are we loving in word or in deed? To love in name only or words only will show it self in everyday living. Do those you love desire your presence or avoid it. Do you bring an heir of incompatibility to your home or are you the one that is like a warm soft blanket on a cold winter's night. Do you provide comfort, warmth, and a place of solace, or do do you bring a attitude of sterility, discomfort and rigidness to your family. We should be reliable and integral part of any place we enter, who we are should reflect whom we belong to. We can and should be bringing a love light, to guide in times of darkness and to provide warmth when things are cold. God supplies us with all of these, isn't it time for us to pass the peace, and pay it forward! Love because you will to not because you have to!