Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
I've read this passage so many times...and so many times I really thought I understood it. I KNEW what love was...I knew it was patient and kind and not jealous...I just didn't know if I really ever loved anyone that way. Certainly I hoped I did...hoped I would...but didn't know for sure.
Recently some events in my personal life have caused me to look deep into my own being...to see who is really beneath this smiling face...to see what condition my spirit is...and I have to share that I have been pleasantly surprised at the person I've found...please let me share...
I've found a woman, who after years of seeking after Jesus, has realized that she has allowed Him to truly change her heart, to mold her into the woman He has called her to be.
I've found a woman, who leans more towards faith than fear.
I've found a woman, that has forgiven those who've hurt her and let go of her own want for vengeance.
I've found a woman who cherishes the life Jesus has given her...that although it's not the place she would have chosen, or even a place that she ever thought she'd be...she is so content with where she is.
And most of all, I've found a woman that truly loves....not the kind of love that seeks its own...but the kind of love that rejoices when someone else finds a happiness that had been elusive for years...the kind of love that smiles, when she sees someone she loves smiling. The kind of love that rejoices when someone else finds joy in the moment or when someone else gets a victory....yep, that's the woman I've found in me. He is so very faithful....He has changed this heart of stone to a heart of flesh.
My circumstances haven't changed, but my heart has...and it's all because of Jesus.
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13).
On this Easter...I am experiencing His love, the one true love...and it couldn't be better.
