30 Days of Love - Day 1: God's Kind of Love

Day 1: God's Kind of Love

If you didn't read yesterday's introduction post, click here.

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8

This world does its best every day to convince us that love is about feeling happy. Thing is, “happy” evaporates fast when someone does or says something that doesn’t make us happy.

Real love, God’s love, is not about emotions. We might experience emotions along with God’s kind of love, but God’s love isn’t about feeling happy. His love squares its shoulders and does what it needs to do, no matter what emotions may be crowding around for attention at the moment.

Since the point of this book is to come away from the world’s way of thinking and get your mind renewed (Romans 12:2) to how God thinks, we really should go over God’s definition of love from 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

These verses stand in stark contrast to the definition of love that the enemy has pawned off on the world. Let’s look at it this way:

God’s love: Patient.
World’s “love”: Patient until you tick me off.

God’s love: Kind.

World’s “love”: Kind until you tick me off. 

God’s love: Forgive.

World’s “love”: Forgive until you do something to tick me off again, then I throw the thing I had supposedly forgiven you for back in your face. 

I think you get the point. 

When our idea of love is based on how we feel, it isn’t really love. As you know, feelings change and flop all over the place, but God’s love remains steadfast. The more we get our minds changed to think like He does about love, the more solid and stable we will be as people. We’ll get to a place where we aren’t tossed into mental and emotional torment when someone acts imperfectly in our direction. 

Please note that I am not suggesting we become a bunch of doormats. God isn’t a doormat, is He? His love for us is so strong, that He gave the most precious gift He could offer: His Son (John 3:16, Romans 8:32). But yet, He has to say some pretty hard stuff to us now and then. There will be times when we have to say hard things to others as well. It’s called “speaking the truth in love,” and we’ll get more into that later on. For now, just get a grip on the idea that your vision of love has been warped and skewed, and it’s time to get it straight.

Homework:

As you read at the beginning of today’s devotion, the Bible says that God is love. With that in mind, I want you to read over 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 a little differently than you may have in the past. Read it out loud, and wherever it says “love,” say “God” instead. “God is patient… God is kind…” Realize as you read that this is how God is toward you. 

Coming Soon to a Blog Near You: 30 Days of Love

Well, I guess the blog isn't physically near you... but it is technologically near you, and that's (wait for it) close enough!

So, I've been writing a book for about a decade now. It's a devotional book on the subject of God's love, and it holds a lot of the lessons I've learned (and keep learning) over the years. Part of the delay. I think, is that I gave sway here and there to thoughts like "Um. You spazzed out on X last week. You have no right to be telling people anything about love."

Um, excuse me, stupid thought, but I think people need to know that a real person, with real emotions, has had success with doing things His way—in spite of some moments of stumbling. No one learning a new skill does it perfectly at first!

Starting soon, I'm going to be posting one devotion from the book each day. There are thirty days, as you might have guessed from the title of this post, and I am really excited to share it all with anyone who'll read it. I mean, if you find out about something you think other people who enjoy, you'd text 'em, call 'em, and maybe Facebook post about it, because it's just so cool.

I'll kick stuff off today by posting the intro to the book. Peace!

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Introduction

I spent years hearing and reading all of the scriptures contained in this book. I could quote them all, but they didn’t have a whole lot of impact on my life. I often wondered what the deal was. It didn’t really seem like the Bible worked. Oh, I wanted to believe it did, but something was off.

After too many years passed, I finally realized that the problem was not with the Bible. It was with me (duh). I was hearing what the Bible said, but I was not doing what the Bible said. Real change didn’t come until I decided to take the Word of God seriously and started doing what it says.

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.  James 1:22-25, NLT

This book was written so that you could benefit from all that I’ve learned over the last several years. God wants to move you from being a hearer only into hearing and doing. We, as the Body of Christ have spent far too long “amening” Bible verses, but not experiencing Bible results, and it’s in our power to change that!

Notice in the verses from James above that he says the Word sets you free, and that if you do what it says, God will bless you! I like the idea of being free and blessed. And I am so much more free and blessed than I was just a few short years ago, and it’s all because I made a choice to hear and do.

The purpose of this book is to get your mind renewed (changed) to how God thinks by giving you small chunks of biblical teaching on the subject of love for thirty days. Thirty isn’t a magical number—it’s just a good, solid length of time to spend immersing yourself in what God has to say about love.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:2, NLT

I also want you to know right now that I do not walk this “love walk” perfectly. I still mess up, get attitude with people, say and do selfish things, and act like a spoiled brat at times. I can only do what I will advise you to do here in this book—repent and get back to it. I want you to get that this book was not written by some higher-than-y'all Christian (though I am holy–1 Peter 2:9) who is just loving and kind all the time. This is a lifelong adventure, after all.

One more thing before I close this introduction! It’s important for you to realize that you are a being made up of three parts: you are a spirit, that has a soul (consisting of your mind, your will, and your emotions), and lives in a body. Knowing this will help you in so many ways as you progress down this road of following after God.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

I want you to treat this book as though you’re sitting down with a trusted friend over some coffee or tea. Realize that this book was not written to make you feel guilty. It was written to encourage you to start where you are and keep on growing in the things of God.

I believe in you!

- Tammy

Controlling Your Thoughts, Bracelet Edition

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he... - Proverbs 23:7

After finding myself in a state of exhausted depression earlier in the year, I knew I had to change some things—and getting serious about controlling my thoughts was at the top of the list. Nothing else would change permanently if I didn't get this critical piece under control. I needed to learn to take "every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5) EVERY thought. 

I've been doing pretty well, but as with most things in life, there's always room for improvement and growth. 

One morning this last weekend, after some quality time with my Dad, I was pumped and joyous. Straight up ready to conquer the world, lounge gear and all. By the afternoon, I was so on edge, I couldn't even stand to be around myself! How did I go from yay to blah in a few short hours? THOUGHTS. (Surprise, surprise...)

I don't remember where I let it slip, but I do know it was something minor. The small things are absolutely just that. But, if I don't handle them right away, they'll it sit in my head and travel along the pothole-laden roads of Crudville, gaining speed as they take the ramp into Dunlostmymindton. 

So, there I sat, frustrated. I apologized to my family. I got out my scriptures and put my mind on them. Then I asked the Lord—still feeling exasperated—for some help on how to better remind myself to check my thoughts. 

The answer came immediately (He's so merciful, seriously): wear a bracelet, and every time you notice it, ask yourself: "What am I thinking about right now?" If good stuff, carry on, soldier. If not, get to thinkin' on something positive, pronto. 

I ran to my office, snagged my rubber New England Patriots bracelet, and squeegeed it onto my wrist as fast as I could.

I don't wear bracelets every day, so they grab my attention easily. Today, I realized I had become used to the rubber bracelet and put on the clunky number you see in the picture below. (Bonus feature: it has made me more acutely aware of the presence of fine hairs on my wrist.)

So, what would work for you? A reminder popping up on your phone? A sticky note stuck to something you handle on a regular basis? Let me know what other ideas pop up for you!

Division - Part 4

Part four of the series on division in the body of Christ is up on Christian Hope. It's the last part of this particular series. Click here to read it, or click on one of the links below if you missed any of the other parts!

Part 1 - Love One Another
Part 2 - What is Division?
Part 3 - Judging

Here's an excerpt from part four:

"Sure, the tares are bad, but the biggest danger here was obviously not the tares harming the wheat by sucking up nutrients and such. Nope. The biggest concern was that the wheat might be disturbed if someone were to rip up the tares. This is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about when I said we need to quit judging so we don’t harm others."

Division - Part 3

Part three of a series I've been writing on division in the body of Christ is up on Christian Hope Today.

Here's an excerpt:

Believers generally know that Jesus said “Judge not, and you shall not be judged.” (Luke 6:37) But there seems to be very little obedience in this area because we’ve grown accustomed to making excuses for our behavior. We think we’re defending God, but when we judge, we’re actually harming the cause of Christ. I know all of this because I wasn’t obeying God either. I was pushing people away from God. I had no qualms about proclaiming how much of a liar or jerk someone was, all the while not even realizing I was judging! But, thank God, the Lord opened my spiritual eyes and ears to it. One of the main things He showed me at that time was that He wants us to “judge with righteous judgment” by looking beyond what we see with our eyes, and get to the heart.

 Be sure to subscribe to Christian Hope Today if you haven't already!

Ambassadors for Christ

"Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God." 2 Corinthians 5:20

Ambassador: "a diplomatic official of the highest rank, sent by one sovereign or state to another as its resident representative"

As I read an email this morning talking about this scripture, I was reminded again that we are Christ's representatives on this earth, and that our lives speak to others about Him. Question is, do our actions and way of life make Him look bad, or good?

With that in mind, part two of a series of guest posts over at Christian Hope today on division in the Body of Christ is up. Click here to read it, and be sure to read the first part if you haven't already!

 

Guest Post on Christian Hope Today

Just wanted to let you all know that I have a guest post up on Christian Hope Today. It's part one of what will be a three part series on division in the Body of Christ. I believe this is an extremely important topic, and I hope you'll go read and let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart about it.

Click here to go read it now!