A lot of days of LOVE and no blogging

I’ve been busy. I got a new job. I’ve been house hunting. Sometimes LOVE takes a back seat. That’s always been the problem. Still a struggle.

Things I’ve been thinking about though: In the wake of another mass shooting, and the political opinions that abound after LOVE (is patient and kind) is hard. LOVE (keeps no record of wrongs, always hopes) is hard too. But LOVE never fails.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what LOVE is,  and how much it challenges me to the core. I’ve been struggling with the desire to escape reality and become entrenched in the make believe of TV or stories. I want to bad to not be faced with the need to LOVE in hard times. To LOVE neighbors who are hurting, to LOVE enemies that cause pain, to LOVE people who fail. I fail too often at LOVE.

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and LOVE. But the greatest of these is LOVE.

– 1 Corinthians 13:12-13

I have no patience for the meantime. I want to see fully, to understand fully. I want to know completely. But that isn’t for me now. For now, what I do have is faith, hope and LOVE. I must LOVE with all that I am, and take every opportunity to learn and grow in LOVE.

These days are hard. They feel so uncertain. Yet, I have hope. And I will cling to it. I will cling to faith, hope and LOVE for they are enduring and they are the promise of the Spirit. They are the promise in the meantime, as the glimpse of something eternal and unshakable.

I have been prayer-less recently. My heart is so hard and stubborn. I have been without the very lifeblood my soul needs– connection to God. And tonight as I was becoming more and more enraged at the state of the world and the responses to tragedy I found myself quoting the LOVE verses. LOVE is patient and kind. LOVE isn’t proud and doesn’t envy and doesn’t boast. It is slow to anger. LOVE keeps no record of wrongs. LOVE delights in the truth…. (that was from memory, which is spotty, so forgive any missing/fumbled pieces). And none of the responses that I had to the situation at hand reflected in any way what LOVE is. So I stopped myself. And I sought out this journey instead. Growing in  LOVE. Seeking LOVE. Maybe that in itself is a sign of progress.

Dear God,

Things seem bad down here. Remind us of your great LOVE and your great grace. For we need that, and we need you, so desperately. Fill me with LOVE that I may respond to anger and hatred wherever I find it with grace and LOVE. That I may reflect you in any setting, in any circumstance, because I would be so filled with your Spirit and who you are. I LOVE you and am grateful that you know me and LOVE me anyway. You are a good Father. 

In the name of Jesus. Amen

Day 15-18: Love never fails…

I may have already claimed this, but this is my favorite piece of the LOVE is… verses. LOVE never fails. There is something about my human understanding that cannot grasp this, but LOVE doesn’t fail. it doesn’t give up. it doesn’t stop.

I feel like I’ve been to busy recently to focus on LOVE. My journey into the Fruit of the Spirit is only beginning and already I’m finding distraction and disinterest setting in. But I visited my dad today. I have such mixed feelings every time I go to visit him. I’m scared, and sad and a little hopeful. I LOVE him, but I don’t know how to make that clear to him, and I believe he LOVES me, but he seems unable to show me that as well. But I keep going. Not because I’m great and I LOVE well, but because God has showed me a LOVE that doesn’t stop when things are hard. It doesn’t just call it quits when it gets to be too much.

So I had a nice visit with my dad. We made awkward small talk and then when it stalled I left. I hugged him and said I’d be back soon and we told each other we LOVED the other. And I am sure we meant it. I wish it didn’t feel so hard, and I wish I knew how to talk to him in a meaningful way, but I’ll keep at it. Because LOVE never fails.

My journey through learning to lean on the Spirit, learning to accept and live out the gifts of the Spirit is so important. It is the thing that will make my efforts with my dad and my family successful. Because I need to learn how to LOVE. And I need God to teach me that. And I’m better than I was, but still it seems so hard most days. LOVE is hard. LOVING someone who doesn’t seem to want to work on your relationship is such a challenge. But God has called me for a challenge, and he promises to equip me for it. I must lean on Him and learn from Him if I am to stand a chance.

 

LOVING God,

You know my struggles. And you promise that we have a High Priest that understands and sympathizes with our struggles. I ask that you give me persistence in LOVE. Teach me strong and enduring LOVE. Teach me the LOVE that never fails, that I may show that level of LOVE, that hopeful, faithful LOVE, to those who you have put in my life. Please especially help me to LOVE my earthly father well, as you have given him to me and asked me to honor him. Thank you for the work you are doing in my life and in his. 

I love you and pray in your son Jesus name. Amen. 

Days 13 & 14: the patience of LOVE

Oh man. I just re-read 1 Corinthians 13. And these 2 lines stuck out from a very long couple of days…

LOVE is patient… it is not easily angered. 

-1 Corinthian 13:4-5

If you are familiar with the verses you’ll notice that there are some missing phrases in between, but these are the two that are being worked on in me even as I type this.

I’m being stretched thin in a house full of chaos. Kids that do not listen, or settle down, seemingly ever. Constantly there seems to be a reason to get frustrated– they are young and they are still learning and pushing, and it is hard. I can’t always remember to keep my cool, and I can only imagine how their parents have done it for so long.

I think it must be sort of like that with God and I. He must grow really tired of me throwing a fit when things don’t go my way. He must get frustrated when he knows what is good for me but I insist on doing the wrong thing. He must feel so annoyed when I don’t do as he asks, repeatedly. But LOVE is patient. He is patient. He shows me, teaches me, and lets me learn at my own pace, never giving up that I will grow up and become who He has called me to be.

And when the house settled down and the kids were finally asleep I started browsing my social media feeds. Of course to find some of the most ridiculous political and religiously offensive views out there. I just cannot understand people sometimes. And as I felt my blood pressure rising the rest of that quote from 1 Corinthians came into my head- LOVE is not easily angered.  Oh Boy. I am very easily angered. I get so caught up in things sometimes that I almost explode. I really don’t have much of a temper. Just internal rage. And tonight I was seething. I kept thinking how stupid and awful all these people are. Many of them are my friends outside of social media. I just kept getting more and more worked up. But LOVE is not easily angered. Because it is patient, and kind, and it isn’t proud, and it doesn’t envy.

God is so patient, and kind and doesn’t get caught up in petty things because he isn’t proud or envious. He may have righteous anger, but He is not easily angered. And I am thankful, because I am sure that for the past 2 days I’ve probably been pressing that issue more than is wise.

God,

Thank you for your patience and kindness. Thank you that you are slow to anger, and quick to LOVE and show grace. I am grateful for your great LOVE and the way that you are teaching me to be a person of LOVE. Fill me with that patient LOVE that I may be able to show LOVE and grace to those who are difficult. Fill me with your Spirit who gives and teaches LOVE. Thank you. 

In Jesus name I pray, Amen. 

Day 12: LOVED anyway

I’ve spent the last few years trying to figure out how to be a vulnerable person. Maybe that sounds funny- but I was raised to be always performing. I am strong, and brave and nothing can hurt or scare me– at least that is what I think I’m supposed to show people. But when I read the Bible, and when I come across people who seem to be living right lives, I am convinced that LOVE is vulnerable, because vulnerability is human and authentic.

But I still very much struggle, putting yourself out there. Fully, really, and asking people to accept you for you. That is crazy terrifying.

And this is going to be a sloppy transition, but I think that is the closest I can come to beginning to understand the timing of God’s plan.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

-Romans 5:8

Like I said, sloppy. God isn’t insecure, he isn’t hoping we like Him. But it was that crazy, authentic LOVE that said, no matter what the response is I am taking this chance. I will offer you a rescue in the way that I can, and you get to decide if I’m worth it.

And that is where things stand. God so LOVED that He gave and we get to respond. And I think about LOVE and God, and I try to relate it to how I LOVE. I LOVE so incomplete and inauthentic. I will walk away when things get hard, and He will enter into the mess to clean it up. I will ignore and neglect and He will work and fix.

We were still sinners, still focused on ourselves and our own disasters. He came anyway. He LOVED anyway. He said I will offer a chance, a hope. And He did.

He ‘demonstrated’ His LOVE for us- and now we have a chance to learn from that teaching and respond. To LOVE Him, to LOVE others. The people around us are the same sinners He came to save. They are just as broken and imperfect as we are. And He LOVED them enough too.

Pretty amazing stuff. I have insufficient understanding to realize just how amazing. So I’ll just keep relating to it the best I know how. As He gives me more understanding. And more LOVE.

Father,

Thank you. Fill me with your LOVE and help me to live authentically from it. You have been so generous and bold in your LOVING. I have so often been so cowardly and insecure in mine. Forgive me and help me to do better. Thank you that I don’t have to stay who I have been. You make all things new, and I know that you are making me new. Fill me with your Spirit and change me. 

In the name of Jesus I pray, AMEN. 

Day 11: LOVE is noisy

I’m staying with my sister, her husband, and their 2 smart and energetic 8 year old boys. Understand, for the past decade I have lived alone. I have a dog, and a TV, but I have really very little noise and activity in my daily life.

So, for now life has gotten very noisy. And sometimes it feels too overwhelming or chaotic for me. And I think, wow, they must hate their lives. But then I start to see something deeper and more real than I understand. When you LOVE people, you can handle so much more than you would think. My sister and her husband are worn out, a lot, but I don’t think they’d trade in those boys for anything. And after watching the boys throw a fit or get all wound up, they still push past the frustration and LOVE them. It’s weird.

But it is all a microcosm of the LOVE God has for us. God LOVES us, despite us. And when we screw up again and again, he still somehow looks at us with LOVE.

I think it has something to do with this:

LOVE keeps no record of wrongs- 1 Corinthians 13:5

There are plenty of things I don’t understand about God and about LOVE, but this is the one that I cannot understand at all.

How can anyone, even the most divine, keep no record of my mistakes or screw-ups. Sometimes you glimpse a little of that understanding when you watch a parent so gently LOVE a child that has been a pain in the neck all day long. But I still wonder, at what point do you have enough?

 

Dear Father, 

Thank you that you do not keep a record of my wrongs. That you, being LOVE itself, have the grace to forgive and forget. I am sorry that I test that so severely. Please continue to teach me LOVE, and help me to see it and live it more and more. Thank you for the object lessons in my life– the view of a parents LOVE, the innocence of a child’s LOVE. Continue to build these things in me and open my heart to accept the LOVE that surrounds me and to give it to any and all who need. 

Thank you, in Jesus name I pray. Amen. 

Day 6: LOVE is action

So, the real reason for my new adventure has to do with family that I’ve never been very close with. Specifically my dad. He and I have never had a strong relationship, and I’ve always been pretty sad about that fact. But he’s not a bad guy, just an emotionally distant one.

He also isn’t in the best of health. He had a stroke almost 20 years ago now, and for the past 3-4 years his health has really started to decline. He now resides in a nursing home.

So one day I was hearing a conversation about how a daughter quit her job to move home to take care of her father- and in that moment I knew I was supposed to move half way across the country to be closer to my dad (I will not be taking care of him- he’s in a good place and I need to work). So I set about getting things in order in California and sold my condo, quit my job and am moving to Minnesota.

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth.

-1 John 3:18

LOVE is action. I believe that and I am trying to obey and act out of LOVE. And it is scary because what if that LOVE is not returned. I know that I have no control over that. I know that reciprocating LOVE cannot be my motivation. But I’m still so scared.

And what if I move halfway across country and I still can’t say the things I need to say, or be present the way I need to be. There is so much of my dad in me. So much detachment, so many walls and barriers.

The famous passage in 1 Corinthians 13 tells us all of what “Love is..” but I think the one that I’m trying to learn right now is “Love always trusts”. Do I believe that God will see me though what He is calling me to? Do I believe that the Spirit will fill me with love and with the right words and the right actions? Do I believe? Do I trust?

If I had LOVE then the answer is an easy yes.. because LOVE always trusts. And LOVE also always hopes. And here I am, walking where I am not sure, acting where I feel unsteady. May my hope lead to trust. May my actions help lead me to LOVE.

 

Father,

I am unsure and scared, but I am called to trust in you, to hope in you. May my LOVE be deep enough to hold that trust and that hope. May my actions be bold and my LOVE be evident for all who encounter me. Prepare me for the task you set before me. Prepare the hearts of those who you would call me to be present with. Teach me to LOVE them, to LOVE them with the LOVE you have for them. Fill me with the Spirit and may I be filled with the fruit of LOVE. 

In Jesus name, AMEN

Day 5: A life spent on LOVE

I was at a concert as a college freshman. It was a free concert on our campus commons and the artist was Charlie Hall. He was a Christian singer with some radio play but I hadn’t heard of him at the time. But hey, it was a free concert. But there was a moment during all of it that stands out more than 10 years later. He read from a book called the Valley of Vision, which is a collection of puritan prayers, and it kind of changed my whole world.

It is amazing how a moment changes you. Even the most mundane, inauspicious moments just mix everything up in your head. For me it was hearing a beautifully crafted prayer…

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision, where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory. Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, that to have nothing is to possess all, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision.  Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine; let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley.

I began that day to think of the upside down way of God’s Kingdom. Of the paradoxes that face the Christian worldview. That to be low is to be high. That repentance leads to victory, And brokenness leads to healing.

I think about how a God above all would become man. How that man would live a humble life and die a sinner’s death. And I am reminded that low, in the kingdom of God, is high.

What does this have to do with LOVE?

But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

-1 John 2:5-6

So if my goal is for the LOVE of God to be complete in me I must live as Jesus did. And the paradox of the Kingdom was unveiled in the life of Christ. He lived it throughout his ministry, but if there was any doubt he made a clear cut example on his last night on earth. At the famed “last supper” Jesus bent down and began to wash the feet of his disciples. He washed each of them, even Judas, the man he knew was set to betray him. One by one the Lord performed this act of servitude.

This act of humility.

This act of LOVE.

 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

-John 13: 12-17

If I am to live complete in God’s LOVE then I must do as the teacher did. I must act as my Lord did. To serve. To humble myself. 

Even as I write this I know how proud I am. I picture the awkwardness of serving. The discomfort. The unease.

How do I become the person that pushes through that into LOVE?

Spirit lead me.

Charlie Hall, turned out, did have some really good music also. He had this song that often gets in my head. It is a sweet LOVE song to God. And sometimes I just find myself brokenly singing it.  

I crumble at Your kiss and grace
I’m a weakling in the dust
Teach me how to cling to You
With all my life and all my love

Father come to me, hold me up ’cause I can barely stand
My strength is gone and my breath is shot, I can’t reach out my hands
But my heart is set on a pilgrimage to heaven’s own bright King
So in faltering or victory I will always sing

And on the road to beautiful
My seasons always change
But my life is spent on loving You
To know You in Your power and pain

You’re my portion in this life
You’re my strength now in my fight
And to You I pledge my heart
In the pain and in the dark I’ll love You
I’ll love You, I’ll love You

I’ll love You…

Heavenly Father- I falter so much on the road to beautiful. Hold me up and help me to press on. I LOVE you. I need you to continue to shape me into beautiful. To teach me LOVE. To remind me of LOVE when I feel unloved or unloving. Thank you for the example of humility that you have set for me, for the paradox of your Kingdom, and the miracle of it all. Continue to mold me and make me a LOVER of you and of your creation.

Thank you Father, Spirit and Son.

Amen.  

Day 4: Everything You Do..

DO EVERYTHING IN LOVE.

– 1 Corinthians 16:14

Can I just say, without sounding like a total drama queen, that each day into this I feel a little more like a failure. Not like a lost cause or anything. Just noting how much none of this sounds like me. And it is supposed to right?

Non-Christians seem to always be so quick to point out the hypocrisy of believers. And it leaves one feeling defensive and wanting to hide all shortcomings. That is how I feel at least.

But I can’t help but look at the passages about how LOVE drives out fear, about LOVING God with all of me, about LOVE for others, and about doing everything out of LOVE and not just feel like I’m coming up extremely short.

I spend so much time getting irritated or mad over the smallest stupidest things. As I said yesterday, I am afraid of nearly everything. And I don’t do things out of LOVE. Not out of LOVE for God, or love for people, not even out of LOVE for myself. I do things because they have to get done, or because I’ve been told to do them. I do things for all sorts of reasons and in all sorts of attitudes. But so often, LOVE has nothing to do with them, and I have nothing to do with LOVE.

Yet I do not despair. Maybe that is foolish but when I dig deeper I have hope..

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

– Romans 5:5

See, the promise has already been made. And God is not like us- he doesn’t make promises that he fails to keep. He doesn’t change His mind or lie (Numbers 23:19).

So I will continue to call on the Holy Spirit, to fill my heart with LOVE. The LOVE that is made to handle everything that this world can throw at me and still endure. God’s LOVE, which endures forever. And like the giver Himself, the gift of LOVE is unfailing. But I need to open my heart, and accept that kind of a gift. I am seeking, and knocking, and asking, and I trust that God will be faithful to follow through on His promise.

Father, You have promised your Holy Spirit to fill me with LOVE. I claim this promise and know that like your word says- this hope will not lead to disappointment. Thank you for your LOVE. Thank you for the Holy Spirit. 

Holy Spirit, come, fill my heart and change me. Make me a LOVER of God and of His creation. Help me to live from the overflow of that amazing LOVE. 

Thank you for a LOVE so bold as to rescue me from my sins, from the mess I was born into and the mess I had made all for myself. You have always been faithful and I am seeking to live in your LOVE and grace. 

In the name of the Son, Jesus, who laid himself down out of the LOVE he had for humanity, I pray all of these things.

AMEN. 

 

Day 3:No room for fear

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…

-1 John 4:18

This may be my favorite verse. I have always struggled with fear. When I was young I was afraid of so much– the dark, getting lost, heights, crawly and creepy things. My sister would watch terrifying movies and coerce me into watching them with her. I would have nightmares for weeks. I still get freaked out thinking about them.

As I’ve gotten older my fears have evolved into deeper, darker places. Fears of always being alone in life. Fears of not being good enough. Fears of making a fool of myself. Fears of death.

When the author speaks of perfect LOVE driving out fear he is referring to the ultimate of fears, condemnation from God. He finishes the line by saying that “fear has to do with punishment.” And God has, through perfect LOVE, done away with that punishment once, for all.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation in Christ”

-Romans 1:8

So if there is no fear in LOVE, no fear in God. Then why am I still so afraid? The obvious answer, the most terrifying part of all of it, is that perhaps God is not in me. Hence the Spirit seeking journey I’m on. To find that perfect LOVE I need to connect to the Holy Spirit- who has been promised to me.

Sometimes we feel these things- these fears and failings- and we are too afraid to be honest about them. As if somehow being honest about our truest selves somehow makes it more true. I’m always afraid, I need God to make me fearless. I need God to make me bold. The kind of fearless bold child that LOVES without holding back, that is LOVED without fear of condemnation.

I don’t know why I was born so fearful, but perhaps the transformation that God can do in me will be all the more miraculous for it. If perfect LOVE casts fear away, then how I long to understand and keep LOVE always. To not fear to be who I was made to be, who I’m being made into.

Hillsong Worship has a beautiful song called “The Power of Your Love” and the lyrics to the first verse and chorus are:

Lord I come to You, let my heart be changed renewed

Flowing from the grace that I found in You

Lord I’ve come to know the weaknesses I see in me

Will be stripped away

By the pow’r of Your love

 

Hold me close, let Your love surround me

Bring me near, draw me to Your side

And as I wait, I’ll rise up like the eagle

And I will soar with You Your Spirit leads me on

In the pow’r of Your love

I was reading those thinking of this adventure I’m on. Knowing that I can be renewed by grace. Knowing that I need my weakness stripped away. Knowing that I need the power of the Spirit, the power of LOVE to lead me on.

When I started this most recent journey, I was simultaneously sure that God was leading me and that I was running away. I think both can be true. I think this path was laid out for me, but I also know I can use it as an escape instead of a new purpose.

And that right now is my biggest fear– wasting an opportunity that God has put before me. Wasting my life.

Life is only a breath, so easy to sleepwalk through it. I don’t want to wake up someday and wish that I’d done better. I want to LOVE boldly now, to live boldly now. But it takes the power of God’s LOVE. That fear ridding, life giving LOVE. 

I don’t know a whole lot, but I’m certain that I need Him. More every day, every hour.

God of all,

You are good and full of LOVE. Your LOVE is perfect and drives out fear, but when I don’t walk in that LOVE I am consumed by my own fears and failures. Please help me to live in communion with the Holy Spirit. Keeping perfect LOVE dwelling within me, changing me, making me new. May that fearless LOVE keep me on this adventure with you. May it be obvious to those I meet. May I LOVE boldly, without fear of rejection or looking foolish.

Holy Spirit, fill me with LOVE and teach me LOVE. Abide in me.

Holy Spirit, come.

AMEN 

Day 2: Abide in LOVE

 

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  

-1 John 4:16

Whoever lives in LOVE lives in God, and God in them.

If you consider that the Spirit dwells in believers (1 Corinthians 3:16) and the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE (Galatians 5:22) the concept makes perfect sense. God is LOVE and whoever accepts and believes that so far as to live it, lives in Him and He in them.

Simple, right? So why is it so hard to live a life that reflects and stems from LOVE?

I think it starts when LOVE is stifled by our own arrogance and pride. Honestly, it is a challenge some days to be humble. We live in a time of technological marvels designed by man. We live in a time when we can see much of the world in relative ease and comfort. I have managed to set myself up with a sense of control and security- emotionally, financially, physically. And, if I  keep my mind distracted it is easy to forget how humble I should be. It becomes easy to forget how small and helpless I am. It is easy to miss how dependent and insignificant each of us is.

And because I have so much false self “love” it is hard to understand what genuine Godly LOVE really is. My “love” is so limited, so conditional, so watered down. I find myself unable to muster compassion because it takes too much energy, and it is too inconvenient. I find myself unable to risk the rejection, the heartbreak, the hurt because my version of “love” is so conditional, so fragile, so in need of secure and control. I think I know that my version of “love” is warped and false.

So then, what is it? What is real LOVE?

The Bible reveals the answer in summation to the greatest LOVE story…

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

-1 John 4:10

I don’t know that this gives me much in the way of instruction, but it does lead me to think that maybe I can’t come up with this on my own. That maybe I need God, who is the author of LOVE– the God that is LOVE– to help me to grasp and experience LOVE.

God’s actions. God’s motivation. God’s plan. All of the path to human redemption was written and carried out by God. This verse speaks of a LOVE that is sacrificial, full of grace, full of hope. It speaks to a people who have no right to pride, no right to self “love”.

Shortly after this verse the author tells us how we are to respond to such LOVE:

We love Him, because He first loved us.

-1 John 4:19

To LOVE Him, to let Him LOVE me. To abide in LOVE so that I abide in God and God abides in me. These are kinds of thoughts that spring a weary soul back to life. These are the kinds of notions that bring a hope of Spring in mid-Winter.

To abide in LOVE, to abide in God. Doesn’t that sound like a life worth living? Like one worth searching and fighting for? There are moments in this journey where the Spirit turns within me and reminds me that there is such a life beyond my small minded and selfish thoughts. I journey forward confident, like Paul, that the God who began this good work will see it through to completion (Philippians 1:6).

Father God,

I am proud and arrogant so often, repeatedly failing to live in light of your grace and LOVE. I pray that you awaken me to the presence and the gift of the Holy Spirit. May I receive the promise of LOVE from the Spirit, who dwells in your people.

Spirit, come, fill me with an understanding of LOVE, with gratitude for LOVE that sacrifices and forgives. Helper, fill me with LOVE for God- who loved me enough to save me. Fill me with LOVE for humanity that God LOVED enough to save. Rid me of the false version of ‘love’ that so often I accept as true out of laziness or convenience.  Having seen and known what is true, help me to never settle for the lesser that the evils of this world try to sell me.

May I abide in you, in your LOVE.

You are good and your LOVE endures forever and ever.

In the name of the Son, Jesus,

In the power of the Holy Spirit,

Because of the great LOVE of the Father,

I pray these things, AMEN.