A Life Well Lived


1 Corinthians 1:1-10 (MSG) ~

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

 Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
This passage in 1 Corinthians is often used in weddings and as the shining example to how we should love.  Yet, very few truly follow it.  Most of us cherry pick the parts we are good at and ignore the rest.
Today is Valentine's Day and as I focus on my husband, I am reminded once again at how much he actually exemplifies many of the characteristics found in this passage.  I was rearranging books a few weeks ago and came across the book, A Life Well Lived, which I had put together to celebrate Dan's 50th birthday 5 years ago.  It was a compilation of words of encouragement to Dan from friends, family and church family. As I reread the words written there, they all shared the same sentiments that I have today. 



Those are just two of the passages out of dozens and dozens.  They all show that Dan truly does reflect the character of love.  I am a very blessed woman and I know it.  There are so many ways he shows his love for me on a daily basis even when I am undeserving.

So today as we celebrate our love for each other, I know that I am the one who got the better end of the deal! ;-)

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