Welcome!
Since my blog on 10-13-17, it has been on my heart to do a study on the definition of Love, Gods kind of Love, or the Love of God, whichever way you choose to define it.
I am a curious person and in most cases very aware of my surroundings, I'm also very observant. I am a visual learner and have found many people are.
Seeking out the definition of a word to fully understand it's true meaning is important, at least for me that's the case. Therefore, My journey begins.
The Amplified and Message translations of the Bible help break down the meaning of Love in a more simplistic way, therefore those are the translations I will be using for my research of the meaning of Gods Love. Those translations and
Go
ogle.
As I stated in my previous 10-13-17 blog I have been reading ~Love The Way To Victory~ by the late Kenneth E. Hagin. I am now on page 78. Again, I must say, his writing is simplistic. It would be hard for one not to understand Gods kind of Love. The hard part ~
as I see it~ would be not responding in what would seem natural to us, or, ~to our flesh~.
In 1Corinthians 13:4, the first characteristic of Love is
patient. Therefore, I am going to take a more in-depth look into its meaning.
The message translation reads,
Love never gives up, the amplified reads,
Love endures with patience and serenity. I
Googled the meaning of patience, it's defined as,
~ able to accept or tolerate delays, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious~.
"be patient your time will come"
Serenity is defined as; ~the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled~
I don't even want to imagine what life would be like if
(God- who is Love) was as impatient with us as we are with others. I'm not talking about serious offenses, just the normal everyday things such as, the person in front of us in the checkout line who has what seems like 50 coupons and then pays with several pennies that need to be counted out.
Although I have not been one to use coupons, I can relate to having to count every dime before entering the checkout, and in some cases, pennies may have been my source of payment.
Or, perhaps the checkout has a new cashier, and he or she isn't as efficient to move the line quickly, what would our attitude be? Would we be patient, recognizing that we were once in that same situation, a rookie on our job? Or, impatient? I can type several scenarios but choose to leave that right where it's at.
Interestingly enough, yesterday my friend and I were at a local Walmart making a purchase. The cashier helping us was
really talkative, which was nice, however, our transaction was taking a little longer than appreciated by the person behind us. In a loud voice, she let everyone around her know she wasn't a happy camper. Seemingly everyone including my friend, myself, and the cashier turned our heads to look at her, startled at the statement and the volume of which it came. Thankfully, that's all that took place.
How do we act while waiting for something? Do we display the character of patience? Are we displaying patience in everyday situations of life?
Are we acting impatient as if our life is the only one that matters? Or perhaps we are impatient with God, feeling that since something isn't happening in our timing or the way
we feel it should happen, God isn't going to keep His word?
I know the thought has crossed my mind that I would show God a much faster and easier way of doing things. I have to remind myself that He knows the end from the beginning, He knows the obstacles that are in our way, and that everyone and every situation must be in alinement to complete His plan in our lives.
If you have asked Jesus into your heart, do you trust God having the patience that what He promised He will do even though the wait may be longer than you want it to be or believe it should be?
I have heard it said a few times, ~If I would have known what they were going through I would have been nicer to them~.
For many years of my life, I bottled my emotions up for different reasons. One day someone close to me read me the riot act on the phone. Although I was guilty of the situation, there was
way more to the story, and I busted into tears. The situation was real, but the delivery of the situation lacked patience. We don't know what a people could be going through, being patient can go a
long way.
Years ago I worked as an instructor at a beauty school. One of the rules was no cell phone use on the clinic floor (where students worked on clients). This rule was hard to enforce and required a level of patience.
One day as I was walking up to one of the students sitting in a hydraulic chair, I noticed she was on her cell phone looking at pictures, as I was getting ready to enforce the rule I sensed there was more to the situation than simply her looking at pictures. I asked if she was ok, she replied then I patted her shoulder, gave advise, and walked away. Later she came to me thanking me for being sensitive to her situation and explained her reason for breaking the rule. There are times situations require a little extra patience, and leniency.
Everyone has a story, no matter what walk of life they are from.
I can testify to the fact that life can make a person hard, someone can be the nicest person one day and years later, not so much! Hurt, pain, disappointment, and life's struggles can all play a part on the journey of life creating the place called impatience.
It's in my heart is to recultivate the character of patience in my life. If patience isn't as much of a part of your character in life as you would like it to be, I invite you to join me!
For those of you who are unaware, I wrote a book titled,
~So Thankful! Life Behind The Posts~ Between the covers I wrote about the daily struggles I faced and how leaning on God gave me strength, recognizing Him as the only hope I had while discovering His faithfulness in my life.
I am running a special on ~ So Thankful! Life Behind The Posts~. through the end of 2017, If you order directly through me you pay only $12.99,
which includes shipping and handling. ~unfortunately, I am unable to offer this to those who live outside of the United States~. If you live outside of the United States and you would like to purchase my book, you can order a printed copy on my website through create space, or digital download, the links to both are on my website at, lifebehindtheposts.weebly.com
To Contact Me, my email address is,
tammietrue16@gmail.com, your message may go to junk mail, to ensure it will not be deleted, next to subject please type in ~I read your blog~.
To book me for speaking engagements please contact me at;
sothankful.tcp@gmail.com
Again, next to subject please type in,~ I read your blog~.
Thank you all SO much! I appreciate you, blessings!
Tammie
