Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 TPT
To grasp this Love and to come to the understanding of these precepts
(a command or principle intended especially as a general rule of action)
We must first learn what true humility is.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
― CS Lewis
Living our lives putting others before ourselves can be difficult at times, actually it can seem impossible to do! Without even realizing we wake up in the mornings to start a new day and the first thing we do is put on the amour of self preservation. In our subconscious and unconscious mind we prepare ourselves for the harsh realities of a not so nice world that is all around us. So how do we see the world through a different lens? How do we see others as belonging to the perfection of a Holy God ? The quote above from CS Lewis is very profound , it can strike a uncomfortable chord in us if we are truly honest with ourselves.
We are told in scripture to love our neighbor as ourselves. Do this mean we must love ourselves? This can become very puzzling to me. How do I love myself and be humble? It’s a very fine line between true humility and false humility. True humility is as CS Lewis said “ not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less”.
Jesus modeled true humility. Everything He did was done only to redeem what was already created from the beginning. His life here was not self serving, His life was only to serve and demonstrate the Fathers love for us. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 is the perfect picture of who the Father is In Jesus, and who He is in us. Love covers a multitude of sin and shame , giving no quarter to the false reality of striving for acceptance.
This Love is Perfect in every way and models our true being as we were created to love and be loved.
Without becoming introspective, we must first accept who He has created us to be and accept how he created us. This is in no way an excuse to live a life of sin. This Love empowers you to find acceptance of the beautiful design of your being. To look in the mirror and see the reflection of a son or daughter that is created in the image of the Father.
The reality of this world is not the reality of Heaven. Jesus prayed “ Your Kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”. The collision of heaven and earth is happening this very moment. To see this reality we must turn our attention and affection towards Love. With a brave heart we must enter into the uncharted waters of true humility. Modeling this humility can be painful. The very thought of rejection keeps us from being in full submission to this idea. We believe that if we humble ourselves, we show weakness. This is why we are stuck in this place of continually striving for acceptance from imperfect people. We can never find true belonging if we are not willing to brave the wilderness of vulnerability.
To be truly brave, we must first be willing to let ourselves be seen. To be brave we must be willing to take the chance of telling our story to others. Our story must be told unfiltered and truthful. Unashamed, we must be fearless in our willingness to be rejected by people and still be loving and kind to them. Jesus was the example of Perfect Love and vulnerability. He spoke the Truth of Himself to all and was the picture of rejection. His suffering was not only on the cross it was a daily suffering. It was a dying to Himself and an obedience to the Father and who He was created to be. The sacrifice was not the end game. The redemption of man was the joy set before him. So He lived His life dressed in the skin of man with passion and obedience. With love for all of humanity he climbed upon a cross knowing through His suffering all of creation will be redeemed back to the heart of the Father. The very essence of His loving kindness was displayed before all creation and His Glory was revealed to all of the universe from the garden to the last days of this world as we know it. The reality of Heaven will one day be seen by all. The revelation of Christ will be on display to all who have turned a blind eye to the One who has redeemed all of creation. Those who have denied the powers of the risen one will see His coming and all of His Glory on display when He returns!
You are different. You have been given sight. You have seen the Glory of the Christ. You who have heard His voice and responded. You have been given the privilege of your blind eyes being opened and in this very moment see the Glory of Christ Jesus! He stands before you in all of His Glory with His arms wide open longing to hold you against his chest, so that your heartbeat is in rhythm with His. As we gaze upon the Mighty One, Heaven and earth become one reality as it was meant to be.
Looking intently at his followers, Jesus began his sermon. “How enriched you become when you are poor, for you will experience the reality of God’s kingdom realm.
Luke 6:20
Blessings
John