Love is not self-seeking. And God reminded me of it about the fifth snooze this morning. It’s a Sunday, and though I’m principally opposed to skipping Sunday School, it was very tempting today. I thought about how nice it would be to snuggle down for another hour. Catch up on some more sleep. Take a vacation day. Relax. Treat myself.
And then into my head it popped – love is not self seeking. Okay, I get it. It’s not about me. It’s a Sunday morning, so time to get up and get to church! Good thing I went too. We are still studying the Sermon on the Mount – and today we studied the section about letting your yes be yes and your no be no – and we talked all about being people of our word. I guess since I’m always telling people they need to suck it up and get to church no matter how tired they are, it’s a good thing I practiced my own preaching!
After church, I tried to get out the back door. There were a couple of people that I wanted to avoid – the kind that never let you get away without a ton of stories? But at the last minute, I chose to walk out the front with my friends, and in the process, was stopped by one of the very ones I had hoped to miss. The whole time he talked to me, Faith stood behind him with a grimace on her face – walking the fine line of staying beside me to support me and wanting to run. I finally waved her on. God was dousing me with “love is not self-seeking.” I got myself into this mess- it wasn’t her job to stay around and bail me out of it. So I refocused, tried to offer a genuine smile, and continued listening as politely as I could until he was done talking.
And then there was the afternoon. I was on a mission. Specific tasks to be accomplished. Much to pack into a very short weekend. My scrapbooking project was scattered all about the living room and writing awaited me just steps away in the office.
The doorbell rang. The neighbor stopped by. Haven’t seen him in months – and it was so good to see him then. So nice of him to stop by. In fact, all the while he caught me up on the land of driver’s ed and show choir and summer vacation, I remembered that I should really make more of an effort to reach out to my neighbors. I’m just still not good at that. Sigh. Love is not self-seeking. Put away the scrapping, Bekah. Don’t worry about the writing. Just get out and love people!!
This “not self-seeking” part concludes the is nots sentence. Love does not envy…it does not boast…it is not rude…it is not self-seeking. As I’ve worked on these things this week, it’s surprised me how often the remedy for these problems is patience and kindness. I never paid attention to the order before. But love is patient and kind first. Once you learn those two things, you can use them to avoid envy…and boasting…and rudeness…and self-centeredness. It really does all work together.
And then into my head it popped – love is not self seeking. Okay, I get it. It’s not about me. It’s a Sunday morning, so time to get up and get to church! Good thing I went too. We are still studying the Sermon on the Mount – and today we studied the section about letting your yes be yes and your no be no – and we talked all about being people of our word. I guess since I’m always telling people they need to suck it up and get to church no matter how tired they are, it’s a good thing I practiced my own preaching!
After church, I tried to get out the back door. There were a couple of people that I wanted to avoid – the kind that never let you get away without a ton of stories? But at the last minute, I chose to walk out the front with my friends, and in the process, was stopped by one of the very ones I had hoped to miss. The whole time he talked to me, Faith stood behind him with a grimace on her face – walking the fine line of staying beside me to support me and wanting to run. I finally waved her on. God was dousing me with “love is not self-seeking.” I got myself into this mess- it wasn’t her job to stay around and bail me out of it. So I refocused, tried to offer a genuine smile, and continued listening as politely as I could until he was done talking.
And then there was the afternoon. I was on a mission. Specific tasks to be accomplished. Much to pack into a very short weekend. My scrapbooking project was scattered all about the living room and writing awaited me just steps away in the office.
The doorbell rang. The neighbor stopped by. Haven’t seen him in months – and it was so good to see him then. So nice of him to stop by. In fact, all the while he caught me up on the land of driver’s ed and show choir and summer vacation, I remembered that I should really make more of an effort to reach out to my neighbors. I’m just still not good at that. Sigh. Love is not self-seeking. Put away the scrapping, Bekah. Don’t worry about the writing. Just get out and love people!!
This “not self-seeking” part concludes the is nots sentence. Love does not envy…it does not boast…it is not rude…it is not self-seeking. As I’ve worked on these things this week, it’s surprised me how often the remedy for these problems is patience and kindness. I never paid attention to the order before. But love is patient and kind first. Once you learn those two things, you can use them to avoid envy…and boasting…and rudeness…and self-centeredness. It really does all work together.
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