Love

Before I did my devotions, I asked God to show me his love. I felt a little distant from him since I've received so many blessings from him. It's hard to worship God when your blessings seem more real than him. But blessings are only an extension of God's love; often times, we worship the extensions of God instead of God himself.

Then I opened my Whispers of Hope by Beth Moore devotional book. Although today's message centered around 2 Corinthians 13:1-10, I totally messed up. Although I messed up, this is EXACTLY what God wanted me to see. I turned 1 Corinthians 13:1-10.

Heh...my bad?

Like...those with an evangelical background KNOW what this passage is about. The title of the passage is The Way of Love.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 

Be careful what you ask God for. He answers prayers.

What happens when a frustrated baby doesn't understand something? The baby cries right? Well yeah that's what I did.

So I skipped the devotion book and focused on this.

It's a really popular passage. But when you actually think of it, it's overwhelming. Why? Because God's love is overwhelming.

For example, say that you're friends with this one person of the opposite gender. Eventually you guys talk a lot more, thus becoming better friends. But you have no idea that he/she actually really likes you more than that. Then one day, he or she tells you. What's the general reaction? Speechless. You have no idea what to say. You didn't expect it. Even if you don't feel the same way about him or her, you're overwhelmed. You know what's the scariest part about this? Whatever your friend said is often only the surface of his/her adoration towards you. But that surface level of adoration still makes you speechless and overwhelmed.

It's the same thing with God. God's love for us is greater than the Pacific Ocean. If he takes a bucket of seawater from Santa Monica and unexpectedly chucks it at you, you all a sudden wake up and freak out.

We must understand that God is love. Love surpasses all logic and reason. If God followed logic and reason, he'd condemn all of us to hell. We'd deserve it. Without God, all we desire is sin: lust, hatred, glutton, envy, etc. Sin consists of all rebellion against God. If we do not understand the severity of sin, we do not understand God. Therefore logically, we wouldn't understand love.

God is love.

And it's hard to understand love. Haha...I barely know anything about it.

But that's okay.

The more God reveals himself to me, the greater understanding I'll have of love.