love...that tall and tough order

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

kevin read this to me during his EPIC proposal

we had this passage read at our wedding in different languages

i'm still in the process of trying to paint it on the wall above our bed

i even made a lovely valentines post with this verse to our engagement pics

but newsflash people, TRUE love is hard

it's not all flowers and sunspots like my pictures reflect

and i'm not talking hard as in loving mr. tall dark and handsome. no, he's easy. i swoon over this man.

i'm talking hard as in we're just plain bad at this kind of love in our daily lives to all the randos or not so random people we come into contact with. 

 i've had that epiphany many times, but honestly a few days ago in the bathroom of all places, when i was meditating on that verse, i almost laughed out loud at how bad i am at some all of these aspects of love. 

here's the rundown.

Love never gives up. 

Love cares more for others than for self. 

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. 

Love doesn't strut, 

Doesn't have a swelled head, 

Doesn't force itself on others, 

Isn't always "me first," 

Doesn't fly off the handle

 Doesn't keep score of the sins of others

 Doesn't revel when others grovel

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth

Puts up with anything

Trusts God always

Always looks for the best

Never looks back

But keeps going to the end.

if there was a harder list to follow, i haven't found it (well...Leviticus is a close second, but thank God those rule are out-dated). 

i find myself so convicted. how often do i put myself first? i mean honestly, ask yourself when you haven't put "me first". 

how often do i realize that by being thankful for what i have and not coveting others is a form of true love? no wonder we can be such a miserable race...we buy all this crap in hopes that it will make us happy, but TRULY what gives life is being thankful for what God has already provided. 

love looks for the best. i'll admit, i'm not always looking for the best in others. sometimes i find myself so annoyed by the actions of those around me, that i don't chose to love them by seeking the treasures of who they are. and then it's me who misses out on a love opportunity. 

i love that our savior was a washer of dirty feet. 

a savior that was nailed to wood for us. 

everything about him shouted "you before me" 

let's live LOVE today and shout "YOU BEFORE ME" 

and currently, maybe your world is not all rainbows and smiley faces...

 but HOPE rises in the form of love. and love comes in living unselfishly with MUCH much gratitude. 

so let's sow some seeds of love today, starting with thanksgiving and working our way down this list! because love, true love, are these hard but glorious truths!  

much LOVE,

Katie