super food

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” 1 John 4:7

”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

My child,

Seek my highest calling in all things. I call you to love. Without love, everything you do today, or any day, will be meaningless.

I am love. You are my child, so I want you to be like me. I want our family resemblance to be apparent.

I am patient and kind. I am not proud or rude. I am not irritable with you. I do not keep a record of the ways you have wronged others and me. I will never give up on you.

I always rejoice in justice and truth. Love does not mean I just tell you what you want to hear. My love is steeped in truth. It is not loving to lie to someone.

My love is perfect and eternal, enduring through every season and circumstance.

All the gifts, talents, and accomplishments that people revere will be useless in eternity. Special abilities and knowledge will not last. Put away the childish priorities in your life and focus on what will endure. Love me. Love those I have put around you. Set your heart and mind on what transcends these fleeting days on earth.

I love you,

Abba

My Abba,

It saddens me when I ignore opportunities to enjoy your love for me. I miss out, and then, others do also. With an empty tank, I do not love the people in my life very well. Sometimes, I neglect those divine delicacies on my plate because I am distracted by the junk food across the table.

This time of isolation with only a few family members gives my unlovely attitudes no place to run for cover. You say, “Love is patient.”  How much of my impatience (in the past) has been disguised by my freedom to change my scenery when my composure frays at the edges?

You say, “Love is not self-seeking.” Does my self-interest currently feel agitated by my lack of latitude to choose freely? I am used to living with limitations, but this unexpected, formidable gale is stretching my, already, taut sails.

You say, “Love is not easily angered.”  My typically calm soul feels disrupted. It’s like someone is incessantly skipping pebbles across the placid waters of my well being. I think I may be more tempted to keep a record of my loved ones’ wrongs while we are corralled in close quarters.

Forgive me for the times I have failed to love you and others well.  I can’t love people well in my own strength. Please love them through me.  Give me the supernatural sense to jealously guard the richest of foods – to live in your endless love.

When I indulge in empty calories, I start to lose my appetite for what is truly nourishing. (What you offer is like eternal superfood.) I can get fixated on something that will not be important by tomorrow – much less a year from now. Don’t let me mindlessly swallow this lie.

Please make me ravenous for your love today. Let my hunger for you and your love inspire all my choices.

I love you,

Mollie

photo: kurhan