Women & Fruits of the Spirit: Love (Part III)

Wow! It's been three weeks since I last posted. I want to take this time to beg your forgiveness! I am back and promise to post at least on a weekly basis! Don't think I've been neglecting you, that more certainly is not the case. Now! Back to business...

Love does not dishonor others. This is a statement that carries weight! What exactly is dishonor? I am glad you asked. According to Dictionary.com, dishonor is to treat with disrespect. There are people among us that will claim to be lovers, doers, and hearers of the WORD, but will walk right in front of someone entering a building and allow the door to close/slam in their face. Clearly this is not a display of love and is flat out disrespect for the other person. A good friend on mine posted on Facebook a few days ago that as she and her kids were shopping in Wal-Mart, another person walked up and pushed her son out of the way instead of saying, "Excuse me", "Pardon me", or "Can I get by please?" To put your hands on someone-or their kids for that matter-is a clear sign of disrespect. Every person breathing the breath of life deserves to be treated with respect, no matter the situation.

• Respect in families-My granny used to say, "Respect your elders" there was never any dialogue about why, you just knew to respect your elders so your days on Earth wouldn't be cut short. Children are taught to respect their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings-they're also taught to respect their teachers and anyone else in authority. Why? Because! 
• Respect in relationships/marriages-Love shouldn't allow you to disrespect your mate. Respect is the right thing to do-plus karma is not nice & does not play fair. If you are not happy in your relationship, seek options to make it better-if it doesn't work, then maybe it's time to reevaluate the situation and do what is best for the both of you; instead of holding on, disrespecting each other and the relationship. Nothing good ever comes out of a disrespectful, lack of love relationship.
• Respect for people. How hard is it to follow the golden rule, treat others the way you want to be treated. It is a matter of respect. I am sure that none of us want to be talked down upon, talked about, mistreated, put out, kicked while they're down or trampled on-so, why would we do it to others. I've heard on many occasions that chivalry is dead. I have a question. Is it? Wait, I have another question. Can it be revived? Out of matter of respect?

Love does not dishonor others-meaning it follows the golden rule! Respect/honor is love.

Women & Fruits of the Spirit: Love (Part II)

Picking up where we left off…Love (fruit of the spirit) does not envy. Dictionary.com defines envy as jealousy; longing to possess something awarded to or achieved by another; a feeling of resentment that another has gained something that one more rightfully deserves. How many of you are killing yourself laughing at these definitions? I found these definitions quite hilarious not only as I was reading them, but also as I began to type them. I thought to myself, “Why would I want what someone else rightfully earned? Why would I want something that is achieved by and awarded to someone else?” I wouldn’t and I don’t. Believe it or not, there are people out there that spend their days and nights longing for what others have and it does not matter what it takes to get, they will get it.

Love does not envy- How many of us grew up in the home where you better not come in the house and tell your parents that Johnny and Jessica had the latest pair shoes and their parents just bought a new car? Raising my hand high above everyone else’s because the first words out of my parents mouths were, “You don’t know how Johnny and Jessica’s parents are paying for what they have” Why did we feel it necessary to tell our parents about Jessica and Johnny’s situation? Because at that particular time, we wanted a new pair of shoes just like theirs or maybe we were ashamed of that big green car that your parents so nicknamed Nelly that would break down every other block. We were envious of their material possessions.

Now that we are older, we know that envy is not of God and envy does not fit in the love equation because love does not envy and it does not buy a new car because your neighbor bought a new car, it does not remodel its kitchen because the best friend remodeled her bathroom, it does not put itself in debt trying to keep up with the Jones’. By the way, who are the Jones’? We don’t know how Mr. and Mrs. Jones are paying for what they have. What God has for you is for you & no one can take it away. Meaning you have what God sees fit for you to have at this particular time in your life. He will not give us more than He thinks we are ready for. You may be at a point in your life where this is what you’re meant to have. Not to say that this is all you’re meant to have in life.

Love does not boast and it is not proud. To me, to be boastful goes hand in hand with being proud. These are the people we tend to call show-offs and these are the people we tend to not want to be around because they work our first and last nerves. These people are similar to the women on these Real Housewives shows. There’s always one woman on the show that the others do not like because she’s boastful and proud a/k/a a show-off. Our parents & grandparents spent countless ours telling us to be ourselves and not pretend to be something or someone we are not. Why? Oh why did they tell us this? Because they didn’t want us to grow up and try to be someone or something that we are not, to start boasting and bragging about what we have, when we really don’t have anything, to begin to show-off our earthly possessions as if we can take it with us when we leave here. Boastful and proud, show-off’s, fake, phony, or whatever you want to call it, is not of God and does not fulfill the greatest command or is aligned with the first fruit of the spirit, Love.

Let’s reevaluate areas in our lives and see if we walking in love or if we are harboring envy, boastfulness, and pride. Are we one of those Real Housewives that no one wants to be around? 

To be envious, boastful and proud is not of love and goes against God’s greatest command-to love and love is the first fruit of the spirit.  

Women & Fruits of the Spirit: Love & It's Definition (Part I)

I've always considered the word "love" a verb. I found out last week from dictionary.com that love is also a noun. Love: (as a noun) A profoundly tender passionate affection for another person. Love: (as a verb) To have love or affection for. 

My question to you as we explore the first fruit of the spirit, LOVE, is what does the word love mean to you?

Take a few minutes and reflect on what love means to you. As we all know, there is a difference in loving someone and being in love with someone.   

Love is the greatest commandment of all. We're told to love our neighbors (referring to others as well, not just the people next door and across the street from you) as we love ourselves. I've heard people say time and time again, "Just because I don't like you does not mean that I don't love you. I love everyone." Would you consider this the same as, "I love you, but there are certain characteristics in your DNA make up that I don't like"? I am striving to be the person that everyone loves. While I know I am not perfect and do not claim to be, but 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV) says 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 trust, always perseveres. 

Now, let's revisit that moment of what love means to you. Can you honestly say you possess all of the characteristics of love. Being honest with myself as well as you, I am a work in progress and God has his hands on me everyday. That is not a cop-out, it is the harsh reality. If we took the time to pick the scripture apart, which characteristics can you place in your basket as yours and the remaining will be the ones you are seeking the God's guidance before making the purchase? 

Let's start with patient, are you easily irritated or aggravated when the light is holding too long, the cashier has to call for management, the carpool line is moving too slow, or an adult is not on the same level with you?
I can honestly confess that oftentimes my patience wears thin with the person who has 50 items in the 10 items or less aisle and I have a rotisserie chicken and a gallon of Milo's tea. Are you patient with the one you are in love with? Are you patient with the one you love?

Moving right along to kind. What is kind? Kind is defined as of a good or benevolent nature or disposition. So, I challenge you to dig within and ask yourself if you are kind? Are you kind to everyone or just to some people some of the time? Kindness extends to the person who ticked you off yesterday in line at Starbucks as well as to that co-worker that does not pull his/her weight around the office. Are you kind to the one you are in love with? Are you kind to the one you love? Are you kind until someone push that right button? 

Remember the greatest command is to love and to love you must be patient and kind.

To Be Continued...

Welcome to my Blog. A year ago I created this blog, but never did anything with it. Life's journey over the past 365 days has taught me that I cannot allow "issues" to take root in my soul, become fertilized and mature into full bloom plants. With that being said, once again, I welcome you to my blog-to the new me, to a world of freedom, love, passion and full blown personal opinions. I encourage you to engage in the conversation as you see fit. A one sided conversation is never any fun.

Grab your favorite beverage & snack as we travel this road together.

More fun stuff coming soon!