What shall we give for love?

The price of love

Many waters cannot quench love

neither can the floods drown

it: if a man would give all 

the substance of his house 

for love, it would utterly 

be contemned.

~Song of Solomon 8:7~

           He shuffled into the room, a little old man with a plastic grocery bag. We continued to sing our hymns while he sat down next to the paralyzed woman in her wheel chair. She was strapped into her chair; her head was the only thing that moved. But she couldn't even control her head, it moved from side to side. He sat down next to her, pulled a banana from the grocery bag, and peeled it. Slowly, he fed her the fruit—a piece at a time.

            “Mabel, eat your banana sweetie,” he might say. He spoke to her as if she could hear him.

            My family went to the nursing home every week to put on a service for the older people. They couldn't leave the nursing home to go to church, so we came to them. I don't remember the old man's name, but I do remember his love for his wife. Every day, he would get up and drive to the nursing home to see her even though she couldn't respond to his attention. She couldn't feel or give him love in response, yet he never faltered in his devotion.

            True love. We all seek a perfect man or woman to fill our loneliness. We want somebody to show us the devotion that the man in the paragraph above showed his wife. Television portrays romance as two people fighting destiny which eventually draws them together, they fall in love, they sleep together, and then they get married. Happily ever after.

            Rarely, does the happily ever after show the love of his life suffering a stroke and living her last five years without her motor skills while he feeds her bananas. He wipes away the banana that she drools out of her mouth. This scene is their only passionate act of love.

            What is love? I Corinthians says, “Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never fails.” Read the passage carefully. Did you know that every characteristic listed is against human nature? So, love is not a natural feeling. Love is work because you have to deny your desires.

            The woman from the Song of Solomon said that “many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it, if a man would give all of his substance for love, it would utterly be contemned.” If you love somebody, you give. You give so much that you would lose everything you for the one you love. Isn't this a contradiction to modern love? If we don't get our way, or the relationship is not benefiting us somehow, we rarely stick around. We don't give our hearts; we hold ourselves back.

            Holding ourselves from our spouse is a failure of modern love. To completely give yourself to someone, to completely trust them, opens us up to vulnerability. We don't want to give everything to a human so prone to mistakes. What if they hurt us? Did you know that hurt is a way of life? Did you know that a lot of good things come from pain? For example, a baby comes from a birth, knowledge comes from spankings, and a doctor cuts open a person's chest to fix their irregular heartbeat.

            When you give love, in a way, you are healing that person. You are showing them that they are not alone, that they are treasured, that they can be loved though they have flaws. I think every person needs love and according to my pastor “many people do not receive nearly enough love”.

            But you cannot give the kind of love that I Corinthians describes because it is humanly impossible. Since giving that kind of love all the time is against human nature, you have to kill your nature. How is it possible to kill yourself and give pure love? Christ says that he wants us to believe on him. He asks us to admit that we have a sinful and perverted nature, and turn to Him. He asks us to believe on his blood, death, and resurrection. He gave the ultimate gift of love when he gave everything—His very life—to cover the death penalty demanded by a pure and Holy God. He showed ultimate love. And the only way we can give this love to others is to let Him change our nature.

            If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us your sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

~I John 1:9~

            When the old man in the nursing home—I never did learn his name—died, he left Mabel behind. The Sunday that he died we went to the nursing home and found Mabel sitting motionless, as usual, in her wheel chair. But when my mom went over to talk to her, Mabel started to jerk her head as if she wanted to say something. Then she said, “He's gone.” That was the only time we ever heard her say anything. A month later, Mabel died as well.

            True love. When two people last a lifetime together, know each other’s greatest faults, but still love each other—we have seen God in their lives. We know that our impossible selfish natures can be killed by the love of God and we are able to love our spouses like Christ loved us.

Modestly a girl

Changing our hearts before our wardrobes



                        http://inspirationlane.tumblr.com/

  What is modesty? As a Christian young woman, I have been exposed to this question over and over again. I have always been under the standards of my parents, my schools, and my Christian culture. I went to a private school where we wore blue plaid skirts and a navy cardigan; I went to a college that was only second to West Point in strict standards. You would think that modesty wouldn't be an issue in environments like the ones I just described. But girls still pushed the line—in high school they rolled the tops of their skirts and in college they wore the dress code out of the dorms and changed in the bathroom. My schools enforced the law, but they could not enforce the spirit of the law in the girls.

  Why do girls dress immodestly? I think I know the answer. Girls know that they can attract a man by their body. Gaining power by beauty or immodest is a woman's chief temptation. A girl has the need to feel loved and desired, but the need for love should never be replaced by the need to control.

  What are we seeking when we dress immodestly—love or worship? If a woman dresses immodestly, she is not winning love. She has his attention, but she doesn't have his heart. He does not cherish her soul; he is not drawn by her personality. She is deceived by the emptiness of her power, because when he is satisfied by her flesh then he will leave. She has not experienced love, only lust. And she has not won anything, she only lost much.

  What does it mean to be modest? I don't think modesty is socks up to the knees, a skirt to the ankles, or a shirt that wears like a potato sack. No, modesty is a little more simplified. I can't give you modesty standards like the schools I attended—you should read and apply the Bible for your standards. But I can say that if you have a spirit that wants to be immodest than you will use a potato sack wrongly. Do you think a Muslim woman, wrapped from head to toe in fabric, can be immodest? Yes, she can use her eyes to attract the wrong attention. First things first. Why don't we change our hearts and then we can work on changing our wardrobe?

 

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." Romans 8:5

 

  Why don't we stop seeking our own status symbols? Does it really matter how many guys take us out on dates? Does it really matter if we are 'prettier' than any other girl on campus? Come on ladies, let's grow up. Are you tired of playing these stupid power games where you only get hurt? Why don't you play for keeps? Put some clothes on and let a Christian man cherish your soul not your body.

  Perhaps, you don't really believe that God will provide you with a Christian man. Do you think that you have to help God out by dressing to attract a man? Look at the Bible. In Genesis 24, Rebekah was not expecting love but God had a plan for her. He sent a servant of Isaac to find a godly woman. And she, instead of thinking of herself, gave this servant and his animals water. And God blessed her for her trust in him. Don't we believe that the God of the Bible is still God today? Can't we let Him write our love story, or do we have to start scribbling away and mess everything up? God loves you and He wants to fill you. Claim His promises to fill us.

   Lastly, I'm not saying that we should dress like slobs. No. I highly advocate perfume, deodorant, style, make-up, and all kinds of shoes. I love to look beautiful, and if you are a girl, you should also enjoy being feminine and beautiful. But there is a big difference between beauty and barely there. Let us be women seeking to give to those around us, not girls who only seek to defraud and deceive the men around them.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another." I John 4:10-11

What is the big deal about Jesus?

A reason to rejoice. . .

  “What is the big deal about Jesus? Everybody talks Jesus and his big sacrifice for us, but what about God? Wasn't God the one who sent Jesus? I believe in God not Jesus. God is the main man,” said the lady at the door.

  I walked away from her in frustration. If the woman could not even see why Jesus was a “big deal” how could I ever hope to help her to salvation? But I, as usual, thought about her question all day. And a story developed in my mind. . .

   The woman felt a horrible blinding light. The light was brilliant and pure, eliminating any speck of darkness in that place. The woman almost felt as if the light could shoot through her skin and illuminate the darkness within her soul.

   She sensed a great deal of people and saw beings with wings that were not quite human, but the one being who riveted her attention was seated in a great throne. Everything within her resisted drawing close to the being, but she was drawn by a sensation that the being wanted her before him. He would not let her flee from his presence.

   “Come and make a defense for yourself,” He spoke.
   She walked forward, a huge terror invading her soul. She fell on her face before him. Her whole body trembled with fear.
   “Why have you bowed before me?”
   “Because I am unclean. I am a sinner. How can I stand before you?” She answered. She did not want to speak, but she knew that she must.

 

For all have sinned and

come short of the

glory of God. 

 ~Romans 3:23~

   “You have answered well. You are a sinner. How will you justify yourself to me?”
   “I—I have always believed in you, God. I—worshiped you alone. I believe that you are holy and that you are just. You are a good God.”
   “If I am just, then I will make a correct judgment for you. What judgment do you deserve according to the law?”
   The woman licked dry lips. She remembered her life—the lies to her parents, the money stolen from her job, the man that she had lusted after, the filthy thoughts, the betrayal of her friend, etc. She held her head in an effort to turn off the memories.
   “NO!” She screamed. She knew that the holy being before her had seen those sins. How could he accept a filthy person like her? He was pure, good, and holy. He was perfect. He stood up before her.
   “Enough. I have seen your life. You were a better than average person, but you were not perfect. I cannot accept you. You have violated my commands. What do you deserve? What does the law demand?”
    “The law demands death of the sinner. Blood must be shed to cover my sins.” She felt despair fill her. The despair of her soul was almost tangible enough to be tasted in her mouth.
    “I must fulfill the law,” said the being. “Take her away to the pit filled with everlasting fire.”
    “But I believed in you God! I believed in you!”

   I closed my eyes against the image of the woman being carried away. I tried to shove away the horrible image of the woman being thrown into the pit of fire. But then I thought of Jesus. And a new ending for the story developed in my mind.

   “The law demands death of the sinner. Blood must be shed to cover my sins.” She felt despair fill her. The despair of her soul was almost tangible like bile in her mouth. But, suddenly, the woman lying prostate on the floor heard a man speak. She turned her head and saw feet that she recognized. The feet had gaping holes in them, but they were not bleeding. The holes were healed and looked like oversized ear piercings.

   “She is a sinner, and she has no excuse, Father, except for one thing. She has claimed me as her Savior. She has accepted my death in place of her own death. But I defeated death by rising again. Is my blood enough to cover her sin? Is the penalty fulfilled?”

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.                                                             ~Romans 6:23~

   The woman reached out and grabbed the man's feet. She felt a spark of hope. And a memory that pushed aside all her other memories overwhelmed her mind. She remembered a time when she had believed that Jesus had died for her and she remembered asking Him to take her sins upon him.

   “Jesus. Yes. Yes! I have no hope but you,” murmured the woman.

   The being of light and truth and justice sat down upon his throne.

   “It is enough. You have satisfied the demands of the law. I will accept your death in place of her death.”

 

  What is the "big deal" about Jesus? He makes all the difference in the world. He is the only person that can save a sinner from the terrifying hands of a good and just God. Jesus is not only a "big deal", he is the "biggest deal".