What is Love?

What is love? Is it that nervous feeling that you get when a special someone enters the room? Is it long phone conversations until the wee hours of the morning? Is it even marriage for that matter? Surprisingly, it's not. I spent a long time trying to figure out what love is, and finally came up with a definition. A few weeks ago, at our church's missions conference, God reinforced that definition by having the visiting preacher quote my definition almost word perfect. So let me ask again, what is love?

Love is not a feeling, but an action. Love is a verb, not a noun. Love is "doing what is best for the other person, no matter how much it inconveniences you." Let's look at the greatest example of love ever--Jesus. Do you really think that He enjoyed being tortured, beaten, mocked, spat upon, and eventually crucified? Obviously not, but it was what was best for us. Jesus put aside the inconvenience of personal suffering so that we could be forgiven of our sins. He did it because He loves us. Jesus' death on the cross is a perfect example of love, because He is perfect.

So how can we display love in our daily lives? First, Matthew 5:44 tells us to love our enemies. Obviously, you will never have feelings for people that treat you bad, but as we learned above, that's not love! Romans 12:20a says, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink." Even though you may not like them, you can still show them love by doing what is best for them. Second, we can love our acquaintances. In this way, love is more of an attitude. It's a willingness to show love. If you see someone that needs help, go and help them. In doing so, you can show them love. Even if you don't really know the person, you can still make a difference in their life by showing them love. Finally, we can love our family/friends. Most people think that this would be quite easy. It's not. When your mom asks you to take out the trash right when you reach the most interesting part of your book, do you show her love? Do you "inconvenience yourself to do what is best for another person"?

Imagine how different our lives and relationships would be if we showed true love. Gone would be infatuation and meaningless crushes. Gone would be gossip and hurtful words. Instead, we would focus on doing what is best for other people.

So what about you? Are you showing true love? Are you doing what is best for the other person, no matter how much it inconveniences you? Don’t bother searching for true love; instead, start showing it.

-Glen

Passing the Torch

Hi everyone! Glen here. The torch has been passed, and I'm kinda nervous to receive it. But, with God's help I can do this. In case you're worried, I won't change too many things. This is still Katie's blog, and I still want it to be pretty much the same when she comes back. For now, though, you're "stuck" with me.

Thanks, Katie, for trusting me with this, I won't let you down.

Some Changes...

For a few different reasons this blog is now going to be run by both Glen and I. Though it will be mostly Glen...I will be taking a break from blogging for a while and I didn't want to let this blog just sit here when I know we've all been encouraged by Glen's posts. So I thought why not let him run the blog? So thats what will be happening around here. I will probably be checking in once in a while but for the most part Glen will be doing the posting and such.

~Katie

Glen - Are You Really Waiting?

Are You Really Waiting?

By Glen Cuthbert

I’ve been struggling with trying to find something to write about, so I decided to look at my own life and write about something that I have been having a problem with. Right now, the problem I’m having is not having crushes because I’m waiting on God. I know I’m not alone with this problem. So, I’m writing this month’s post on just that. Just so you know, this post is written as much to me as it is to you. I think it will help all of us.

Trusting God one-hundred percent is always going to be a struggle. Yes, we can all say that we are trusting God for our future mate, but if we just say it, are we really trusting Him? God has that perfect person all picked out, and He doesn’t need our help. No matter how amazing that certain someone that you are interested in may be, the question still remains: Do you completely trust God?

Having a crush while waiting on God is like having a backup plan. Most people have backup plans when they are scared that something will go wrong with their original plan. God doesn’t make mistakes. His way is perfect. Because of this, we don’t need a “plan B” in case something goes wrong. You’re probably wondering, “This person is SO AWESOME, how could they not be ‘the one’?” My question to you is: How can they be?

Going back to the first post that I ever wrote for this blog, I wrote about how “the right person at the wrong time is still the wrong person.” Seriously, we’re all still young. The time is not yet right, so the person is also not right. No matter how “right” they may seem.

Also, crushes come at a price. I’ve written in the past about giving your heart away. There is still pain, there is still heartbreak. I’ve never had a girlfriend, but I’ve been hurt just from “innocent crushes.” There is no thing as an “innocent crush.” People still get hurt.

God made us with a natural sense of attraction. That’s just part of being human. But the real question is: “Will you trust God and control those attractions?” View guys or girls that you are attracted to as prospective good friends, and work on those friendships. Someday, if you go about it right, you should marry one of your closest friends. So, start now, and you may increase your chances with that person more than you would have with a crush. Or, you might just find out things about them that you wouldn’t have seen if you were still interested in them. Just make sure that your motives for friendship are right. Trust God, build your friendships, and He will take care of the rest.

Do you completely trust God, or do you have a backup plan?

Psalm 27:14- “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”