Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Do You Really Love Your Neighbor?




"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.Love never fails. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Thought for the Day
I am sure that we have all heard or read the famous "Love" chapter in the Bible. Ya.... I know Love is patient, Love is Kind..... We are told to love our neighbor like ourselves, but who is our neighbor? Everyone! This concept is so hard to conquer, I know what I should do, but I am so human it goes against my natural human nature. This concept has to be something that you make an effort minute by minute, day by day.

One trick that I do is in the above verses, I take out the word love and insert my name. Being honest with myself I see where I am lacking in rounding out the love that I show to others. So, an example would be..... Jim is patient, Jim is Kind. Jim does not envy, and Jim does not boast, Jim is not proud.... Try this today, plug in your name and see where you need to sharpen up. Is Jim really patient? Is Jim really kind?

I am also going to leave you with this story, it is funny.... but at the same time it is true.

An honest man was being tailgated by a stressed-out woman on a busy Boulevard. Suddenly, the traffic light turned yellow just in front of him. The man did the right thing stopping at the crosswalk even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman hit the roof and the horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection. As she was still in mid- rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands in the air.

He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger-printed, photographed and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door.She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, "I'm very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the "Choose Life" license plate holder, the "What Would Jesus Do" bumper sticker, the "Follow Me to Sunday School" bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk. Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car." :)

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