The Love chapter has always been one of my favorites and I find this paraphrase of it exceptionally nice.
If I talk a lot about God and the Bible and the Church, but I fail to ask about your needs and then help you, I'm simply making a lot of empty religious noise.
If I graduate from theological seminary and know all the answers to questions you'll never even think of asking, and if I have all the degrees to prove it and if I say I believe in God with all my heart, and soul and strength, and claim to have incredible answers to my prayers to show it, but I fail to take the time to find out where you're at and what makes you laugh and why you cry, I'm nothing.
If I sell an extra car and some of my books to raise money for some poor starving kids somewhere, and if I give my life for God's service and burn out after pouring everything I have into the work, but do it all without ever once thinking about the people, the real hurting people-the moms and dads and sons and daughters and orphans and widows and the lonely and hurting-if I pour my life into the Kingdom but forget to make it relevant to those here on earth, my energy is wasted, and so is my life.
Here is what love is like--genuine love. God's kind of love. It's patient. It can wait. It helps others, even if they never find out who did it. Love doesn't look for greener pastures or dream of how things could be better if I just got rid of all my current commitments. Love doesn't boast. It doesn't try to build itself up to be something it isn't. Love doesn't act in a loose, immoral way. It doesn't seek to take, but it willingly gives. Love doesn't lose its cool. It doesn't turn on and off. Love doesn't think about how bad the other person is, and certainly doesn't think of how it could get back at someone. Love is grieved deeply (as God is) over the evil in this world, but it rejoices over truth.
Love comes and sits with you when you're feeling down and finds out what is wrong. It empathizes with you and believes in you. Love knows you'll come through just as God planned, and love sticks right beside you all the way.
Love doesn't give up, or quit, or diminish or go home. Love keeps on keeping on, even when everything goes wrong and the feelings leave and the other person doesn't seem as special anymore. Love succeeds 100 percent of the time. That, my friend, is what real love is!
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Edit: Information below updated 2/24/08 from email from David Sanford.
Copyright 2003 David Sanford ( *dsanford@sanfordci.com* ). Permission is granted to send this to others, with attribution, but not for commercial purposes.
David serves as president of Sanford Communications, Inc. (www.sanfordci.com).
David and his wife, Renée, are co-authors of the 400 pages of devotional application notes in the "Living Faith Bible" -- http://tinyurl.com/296gax
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7 comments:
This is really great... thanks so much for posting it!
You could copy and paste it to your blog if you wanted to, I just wanted to share it with everyone because it IS so beautiful.
"Permission granted to send this to others, with attribution..." If I submit this to be printed in our church newsletter (which is distributed freely only to those who attend our church) would I need additional permission from David Sanford? Or is the permission noted in your blog sufficient?
little joe - as you see it on my blog is how I received it in an email from a member of Mennolink. I am unable to prove or disprove the legitamacy of the credits. As is, permission has been given to publish as long as it's non-profit.
little joe - I just received an email from David Sanford stating;
"Yes, others can post it – just not sell it. If you would be willing to update my bio, however, that would be great!"
Thanks.
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