[21 day pause] day 7: love

{So, I’m a little late getting this posted… since Valentine’s Day was yesterday… yeah, it’s how I roll sometimes.}

Growing up in the church… it can be easy to quickly read through a passage in the Bible that I’ve heard over and over before – and not let it have the impact it was created to give. This is one of the reasons I love reading in different versions… particularly in The Message translation.

I Corinthians 13… often referred to as the “love chapter” is one of those passages.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

I keep coming back to the fact that our God IS love. When I was growing up, we would put the name of God in the place of the word “love”…

God never gives up.
God cares more for others than for self.
God doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
God doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

See,
God doesn’t need us.
He doesn’t need me… He doesn’t need you.

But – friend, our King – He wants us… me… you.

No matter where you are this Valentines Day – know this…

You have a King and Creator who is thinking of you… Who sees you.

He loves you…