February brings thoughts of Love, but at Elm Grove Kids, we have been focusing on Love a lot! We began our “Growing in Love” series last September, and we have learned much about what Love really is. In learning that God is Love, and His Love is displayed through us, we have also seen what Love is not. Many people say they love us, but real Love shows the truth through actions. So, what actions show Love?
1 Corinthians 13:4- 7 says, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
When we genuinely pause and hear these words, they are powerful. What if our Love looked like this? We often hear this scripture read at weddings, and it sounds like a romantic notion that we would like to be reality. However, we rarely believe that the people who love us should actually be these things, or even worse, we seldom stop and ask ourselves if we are these things to the people we say we love.
The importance of Love in scripture and the Christian walk
Why is Love important enough to take so much of our time? We have spent 16 Sundays and 14 Wednesdays talking only about Love because Love is one of the Christian walk's most essential and foundational aspects. What is the greatest commandment? How will the world know we belong to Jesus? What is the one thing that Jesus said would set us apart from the world?
LOVE
If we have not Love, we have nothing.
To love like He loves should be our highest aim and greatest responsibility. We never do it perfectly because we are not perfect people. But through spending time with Him and asking Jesus to enable, lead and guide us, He will teach us how to love better. He has told us what to look for in ourselves. As we examine ourselves, we ask, “How have I loved today? Was I patient, kind, humble, respectful, faithful, forgiving, delightful to be around, polite, modest, honest, hopeful, and enduring? Did I put others before me, or did I demand my way?” As we examine our hearts before God, He will show us when we failed and when we got it right. He is faithful to lead us to become more like Him, should we submit ourselves to His will, as spilled out in scripture.
What is Love?
So, let’s take just a moment to understand better these words we find describing Love in 1 Corinthians.
Patient
As defined by Webster’s dictionary, patience is “the act of bearing pains or trials calmly and without complaint.” Patience grows within us, it does not come naturally, and we must intentionally practice it. As we become patient with those around us, we learn that the person in front of us is more important than the goal, task, or agenda we have. Patience reminds us that we are not at the center of our universe; instead, God has ordained our steps. When we look at someone and see them as a person created in the image of God rather than a hindrance to what we want, we have met God and been changed.
Kind
Kindness is something many of us would say that we have – and I hope we do. But genuine kindness is not a ‘when it’s convenient’ thing. Kindness is the act of being sympathetic, helpful, gentle or having a forbearing nature. (Websters) Forbearance here speaks of patience and mercy. As the song says, “God’s loving kindness is better than life.” When we are kind, we are indeed the right kind and care for people just as God does.
Humble
Humility is an accurate view of oneself and others. Warren Wiersbe, a practical Bible teacher, preacher, and author, says, “Humility is not thinking meanly of ourselves; it is just not thinking of ourselves at all.” Often, we think of humility as putting ourselves down or not admitting the talents God has given us, yet this is not a Biblical view of humility. Humility is honesty, stating who we are and who we are not. Knowing what gifts God has given us and that we are created to serve God and others, and no service we can provide is beneath us to give. Living each day to serve Him in whatever way He gives us the opportunity to is true humility.
Respectful
Respect, essentially, is remembering that each person we meet is made in the image of God and, as such, deserves to be treated accordingly. When we forget that the people we meet at the store or a restaurant are people God loves, we fall into Satan’s trap of treating them as if they are in the way. We must regularly remind ourselves that every person we meet, we have a responsibility to show them the goodness of God. And in doing so, we impart His Love.
Faithful
Faithfulness is being true to your word and doing what you agree or say you will do. Dependable. As Christ’s followers, dependability, faithfulness is something we should be known for. Once again, in thinking of others before ourselves, we follow through in our commitments so as to not put undo toll on another. We show up for people because Jesus is there for us.
Forgiving
Forgiving is at the very center of Christianity. Forgiveness sets us apart from any other religion. Still, more importantly, forgiveness is the only difference between someone saved by grace and someone on the road to an eternity without God. As we give forgiveness when we have been sinned against, we remember the forgiveness given as pardon to us. Forgiveness is the biggest act of Love ever recorded in human history. Perfectly by Christ, a perfect person, a sinless sacrifice, God himself paying the price for our sin. And mirrored imperfectly by us, imperfect people loved by a perfect God. Taking on the punishment of another, and paying the price so that justice is still served, is the mark of a HOLY GOD entirely just and completely loving. May we forgive as we have been forgiven.
Delightful To Be Around
How often do we think, “I can be in a bad mood and still show love.” Or “I’m in a mood; leave me alone.” We might not say it, but that we think it tells us something. I’m not saying we can never have bad days – we are human and will have bad days. The question is, what do we do when we have bad days? Do we ask God to sit with us as we examine our hearts and identify why? Do we need more rest? Time away from more pessimistic people, or even more likely, more time with God? When we notice our bad moods and refuse to do anything to solve them, we are not showing Love to those around us. How can we be more delightful to be around? How can we be more like Jesus? Know when to pull away from people to see God and get your cup filled up.
Polite
To be polite or courteous is to show Love in everyday moments. To truly be a polite person, we must be committed to continually being this way. Jesus was not rude, even in His dealings with those who didn’t like Him. He corrected and instructed but did so with Love. Even as He tossed the tables in the temple, He wasn’t degrading to the people but corrected the actions they were choosing. Being polite shows that in every moment, we consider their thoughts and feelings as we interact with others.
Modest
Modest, meek, and humble all describe the savior we look to as our picture of perfection. Our Holy God came and lived a modest life. To our knowledge, He never owned a home or had much He worried about calling His own. He sets an example that in living modestly, we have abundant life and a surplus to give to others.
Honest
Love is honest. God himself has never lied and cannot lie – or He would cease to be God. Therefore, we know that lying is never the loving thing to do – although sometimes Love requires us to say nothing. When we love someone, we are honest in our dealings with them. As we are honest in our words and actions, this honesty shows others a picture of our God, who is the truth.
Hopeful
Love is hopeful, expecting the promises of God to be kept. Knowing, believing in what is unseen, yet fully assured that God will do what He said He would do. We don’t hope as the world does with some wishful thinking and “maybe” (shrug). We have full assurance that what God has promised, He will deliver. And this hope is grounded in a knowledge and understanding of what He has promised. Knowing His word enables us to understand what we can hope for and cannot. This hope keeps our eyes fixed on the things of God, the eternal, not the momentary earthly things. In relationships with others, our Love (through God) stands steadfast in the hope of eternal salvation. Hope never wavers, and always trusts that God is using everything for good.
Enduring
Love endures forever. How good is it to know that God’s Love never runs out! As we sit with God and know that He provides all our needs, we know that our Love might be enduring only by His grace. Real Love comes from God. It’s not our Love that we give but God’s Love that fills us and we give away. We cannot manufacture it or will it to be stronger, and we must first receive it so that we too can give Love. How do we keep loving when our Love runs out? We go back to the source of Love and receive it again.
Putting Others First
Putting others before ourselves is the heart of what Love is. As we intentionally consider not what do I want but instead ask what others need, we become more like Christ.
Not Demanding My Own Way
In most of our relationships, demanding rarely gets us very far. But demanding never shows Love. I struggled to find a single word that encapsulated this because I didn’t want to lose any of the heart. In yielding to others, we choose not to think of ourselves as the most important person in the room. We recognize that our wants and desires are only one part of the picture, and we, like Christ set aside our rights and entrust to God our needs as a display of humility and trust.
In Conclusion
As you can see, Love is about making us more like God, for God is Love. We cannot love if we do not have God. We cannot live up to any of these things on our own; we need Him and the presence of the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into Love and to strengthen us to do the loving thing in each moment. I pray that as you consider what true Love is, you examine your heart and ask God to help you and all of us around you grow in Love daily as we grow closer to Him.
This February, we continue to dive into love with fun, crafts, games, music, and life-application stories during our children’s worship! We enjoy teaching your kids how to have a closer walk with Jesus! We continue to equip you as parents to lead your kids closer to Christ through conversation starter cards found Here!
As Ultimate Wednesday continues, we learn more about Prayer and whom we pray to- God! He is our Creator, Potter, or director of our lives and our Heavenly Father! We continue learning to have real conversations with our very real God!
Our volunteers work very hard to love and serve you and your children. Please keep them in your prayers! Pray that God will bless them and continue to give them health, patience, faithfulness, and love as they serve. We encourage you to pray over our kids as well. They need to know the Love of their Father in Heaven! May they feel His presence and know they never walk through this world alone!
Paul told the Corinthian Church in his second letter (2 Cor 3:18) "So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord - who is Spirit - makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image."
It is here Paul reminds us it is God who is working in us and through us in order for us to grow to be like Jesus. But it also means that we must be intentional and do our part in the journey.
It is my hope and goal that our teens (and kids and adults as well) begin to encounter a real and loving God who is with us no matter where we are or will ever go. He wants a relationship with them and us. A relationship that grows daily as we walk closer to our God and look more and more like Jesus, and less like us!
Grove Youth Night will be on February 19th from 4:30 to 6:30. We are excited to open the gym up for: games, snacks, Worship, and Devotion! All middle and high school students are welcome to come hang out with us!
We are still needing more volunteers to help with our teens on both Wednesday afternoons, Wednesday evenings, and during Grove Youth Nights. We would love to have you come love on these young people! Pray about this, and let me know.
~ Pastor Jonathan
Each week we recognize one of the families in our congregation. We ask that you lift them up in prayer and find a way to encourage them. Please take a few moments to send them a message, call, or in some way, let them know that you are thinking of them. If you don’t know who they are, this is an excellent opportunity to get to know some new people! We love all of our community here at Elm Grove and are so glad that you are part of it!
January 1st - Jonathan & Chandler Whitford
January 8th - Marvin Wade
January 15th - Raymond & Gayle Smithson
January 22nd - Phyllis Worthington
January 29th Gavin & Brette Daniels
Elm Grove FWB Church Family,
The Pitt County Pacers Board would like to thank you for allowing us to use your amazing facility for our boys’ basketball teams’ practices and games. Without you opening your doors to us, we would not have been able to have a basketball season. We are so very grateful to you for all you have done to support us.
Sincerely,
Pitt County Pacers Board
Dear Elm Grove Church Family,
Thank you.
Thank you for all you did when my mama, Cindy Venters passed away! You all were wonderful to her and she loved her church family! The meal you served our family was delicious and very appreciated! So Sorry this note has taken so long!
Love,
Jason, Melissa & Cameron McLawhorn & Family
