The Way of Love

ByLeigh Ann Dutton

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. ~1 Corinthians 13:13

I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. As a wife, mom, business owner, and one who is in the process of buying a house, I am busy, busier than usual in all of these areas.

And it’s easy to get swept away by the tasks and piles of laundry and fail to allow love for God and neighbor to take its rightful spot in the forefront of my mind.

It seems as though soft, compassion-filled love quickly exits the premises when life gets busy.

Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 13 that we can give away everything we have – our time, energy, and resources – but without love, we gain nothing.

We can burn ourselves at the stake, laying it all down, but without love, we sacrifice in vain.

We can put on every appearance of godliness on the outside, but if we’re filled with hatred, bitterness, or resentment on the inside, we are nothing.

When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He left His disciples, and subsequently us, with the command to go and tell all the world about the great news of Jesus Christ! This command is meant to consume the whole of our lives.

And when the Holy Spirit came to dwell within us at the point of justification, faith, hope, and love came to abide within our souls as well, characteristics that did not exist in their fullest form before, if at all.

When life is hard, when your preschooler engages in self expression by painting herself green with permanent marker, when you’re stuck caring for a disabled husband and elderly parents around the clock, and when a moment alone with a hot cup of tea seems years away, remember this:

Pursue love.

In light of the Great Commission, each moment is a divine appointment to put on display the attributes of our amazing God, and thus proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dear reader, you have an advocate with the Father and you have a companion in the one who has been there. Jesus has walked where you have walked. Maybe Jesus never dealt with permanent marker, but He did chase demon possessed pigs away – that’s a weird way for Satan to self-express don’t you think?

Jesus certainly understands caring for the sick and the helpless. It was His entire work while on earth!

And He knows what it’s like to just want to be alone. He withdrew often to pray and rarely did it end of His own account. Someone inevitably ran up yelling for Him to come quickly, quickly.

Among it all, Jesus put on love, He pursued it, He ran for the Cross with endurance and perseverance.

And just like us, He did it one day at a time.

So today, take a moment and ask forgiveness for your anger, bitterness, and resentment. Then stand up, take the hand of Jesus, and pursue love because unlike our words and actions, love never ends.

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15 Comments

  2. Thank you for your wonderful post! I was totally convicted and encouraged by my behavior in dealing with a certain recent challenge. Thank you for sharing this… I pray the Lord blesses many through your words.

    Reply

  3. I’ve been struggling with resentment a lot today. After a week at home sick pretty much not leaving the house (me sick for a week, my son catching it on day #5 of my sickness), I was ready for a fresh start today. He was feverless yesterday so I was prepared to go to MOPS today. Instead, he woke up with a fever again. Another long lonely day stuck in the house with a very whiny, clingy two year old boy who just wants to “go ride mommy car” to who knows where. I’m exhausted from him waking up at the wee hours of the morning for WEEKS now and not my not sleeping well all week because of congestion and coughing fits.

    This morning I locked myself in my room with my Bible and Sarah Mae’s Desperate because anger, bitterness, and resentment is my middle name today. And even then he interrupted me severa times until I physically restrained him in the playyard so he wouldn’t keep trying to get my door open.

    I didn’t really come away with my situation improved at all, but I did give it all to God yet again. And he told me this: “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:6)

    The rest of the day has been more of the same…but my attitude has been more positive. I’ve taken the time for hugs and rocking and puzzles even when I didn’t feel like it. Thanks for this post because it was just the reminder I needed to get through the next few hours til bedtime.

    Reply

    1. Aprille, I have so been there…just this morning…and last night…and yesterday…and the day before. Know you are not alone! I’ve been so overcome with bitterness and exhaustion. Of course, I am in the middle of some extenuating circumstances (like you), but in it all, God keeps reminding me…love covers a multitude of sins, as well as the quote from Elizabeth Prentiss that tells us that God receives more glory when we mother with joy than He does when we get moments of solitude with Him. The truth remains, but my feelings overtake me. My emotions run away and I’m left curled up in a ball on the kitchen floor just begging for the day to end. But each time, like you, I get back up and we try again. Friend, God is glorified by our putting one foot in front of the other. This too shall pass!

      Reply

      1. Aww I got tears in my eyes as I read this. I have never heard that quote before but I definitely think it’s true. I think that “solitude with God” is often over-emphasized to the point that moms of small children are not only overwhelmed with life but overwhelmed with guilt that they can’t find that time no matter how they try. It’s so nice to know that I have a friend and am not alone. You should read the post below in the comment luv because I think you will be able to relate to it a lot.

        Reply

        1. Thanks for pointing this post out to me. I totally get it. Even the five ways you aren’t enough. I could have written this post! Thanks for sharing it with me. It’s a wonderful reminder that I’m not alone and that God’s grace is truly sufficient.

          PS Is there anyway you can turn off the requirement to be a wordpress.com member for me to comment on your site? I can never remember my log-in and I’ve tried to comment a few times in the past. I’m lazy and give up, or just get distracted. ha! But just a thought. 🙂

          Reply

          1. Leigh Ann thanks for bringing this to my attention…I’ve had a few people tell me this and I am very very frustrated because having a wordpress.com account is NOT supposed to be a requirement according to my comment settings. I don’t know why readers are getting that requirement or how to fix it…I’m going to try turning off the requirement to have a name and email address but I’m not sure what else to do!

          4. Yea! I totally understand. There is a box you can check, but that’s all I remember about it. I had .com before I switched to self hosting.