Pursing Love - Love is Kind

We are in the second week of Pursing Love and this week's topic is Love is Kind. Well, it's taken me all week to write this post. I thought I was going to miss this one. When I reflect on what it means to be kind - to be friendly, generous and caring, I immediately think about the loving kindness the Lord has shown to me, and how I am instructed to model that kindness in every aspect of my life to those around me. For the most part, I am a kind person. I think that others would say that I am. But as I draw closer to the Lord, He is quick to reveal those areas in my life where my attitudes or actions do not align themselves with His. It is for my benefit that these areas are brought to the light so that I could fix them and look more and more like Jesus, which is my one goal in life. Lately, I've been asking the Lord to show me how to love well. Love starts by being kind. I fell in love with my husband because he was first kind to me. He was/is friendly, generous and caring. If it were not for his kindness in the early days of our relationship, I would not have fallen in love with him.

There are many areas of my life where I feel I need to work on showing kindness to others. Here are a few:

• Do I say thank you to the person at the grocery store who rings my groceries or helps me out to my car? You would think I would do this automatically, but honestly, sometimes my mind is racing and I just forget.
• When the line for coffee in the morning is out the door, am I kind towards those working hard to meet my need, or do I moan and complain about why it's taking so long? I've been known to have a bad attitude towards those trying their best to provide me a service. Although I've never voiced my displeasure, just the fact that it was in my heart make me cringe.
• Do I purposefully look for ways in which to assist others (at work, at home, in the marketplace)? I do pretty good with this at work; but at home and in the marketplace is a different story. I am working on it.
• Do I model kindness to my children, so that they in turn will be kind to each other? I have had my share of "bad" days and unfortunately, have leaked my unkindness out into the atmosphere of my home. I am working hard to maintain an atmosphere of love, honor, kindness and respect in my home.
• Do I treat myself with the same kindness that the Lord has shown me? Not there yet. I have been working on this one my entire life. I have come a long way, but have so far to go.

I want to be Kind (friendly, generous and caring) all of the time. I don't want to allow my circumstances, or the fact that the day got the best of me, to dictate how I treat myself or others. My prayer is that the Lord would give me a heart of compassion for others, so that I would begin to see them through His eyes, and show them the same loving kindness that He has freely given to me.

For more posts on Love is Kind, visit Marsha at Marsha's Musings.

Patient Love

I am so excited to be able to participate in the Pursuing Love Meme sponsored by Marsha over at Marsha's Musings.

I have been a Christian for over 25 years, and I would have to say that just over the last 3 years or so have I begun to comprehend how very much God loves me. I have come a long way, but I still have a ways to go. I am one of those people who have a lot of head knowledge, read the Word, believes what it says; yet, for whatever reason it doesn't always sink into those deep places of my heart. Yet I trust, I choose to believe!

I would have to say that I am one of those who have built walls around my heart. I didn't really know that they were there, until about a year ago when I, along with my husband, went through some very deep and intense emotional healing. Choosing to leave what is past in the past, I won't post about it here; but just to say that I did allow my heart to become closed and hard in some areas, due to issues from my past. Slowly, and every so lovingly and patiently, my Daddy God has been able to break those barriers down, so that I can begin to allow Him to fill me up with his overwhelming love.

Today's topic is Love is Patient. For me, part of learning to love well is being patient with myself, and allowing God to take His time to heal the hurts in my heart. Sometimes I want to rush things. But God knows that if He were to reveal every hurt that lies deep in the crevice of my heart to me all at once, I probably wouldn't survive. So I am learning to allow Him to take my hand and slowly reveal these things to me.

Love is a journey. One that we walk a little farther in each day, as long as we are being transparent with God and those He's placed around us. I have not yet arrived at the depth of love, or loving others, that I need to be. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, my patient teacher, I am learning to walk in love.