Words of Encouragement From 1 Corinthians 13

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My grandkids and I finished working on the Fruit of the Spirit Scripture memorization verses, activities and crafts, and have gone back to our Awana verses. We still do a lot of talking about love, though. God’s love for us and our love for each other. Yesterday, two of the grandboys and I were talking about loving God with all our heart, loving others, and even loving our enemies.

As I was praying about God’s love this morning, He reminded me of the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 that talks about love:

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous;

Love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly;

It does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

Does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails…But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Isn’t that a wonderful prescription for caregiving. It doesn’t matter whether you are taking care of an aging parent, an adorable but precocious grandkid, or for that matter, dealing with a sweet but but occasionally recalcitrant spouse. Perhaps it’s a cute but capricious teen? How about a boss or coworker who sometimes makes you want to scream. Let’s face it, no one is perfect. And as members of the Sandwich Generation caring for elderly parents and grandchildren, we sometimes see our loved ones in worse moods than anyone else because they don’t feel well. Focusing on and following God’s prescription to love them, no matter what, really does make a difference.

It’s not enough, though, to read this once, think how nice it is and promptly forget it. I used to have it posted in my bathroom and would pray through a different verse from it each day. Over the last few years. I must have prayed through it more than one hundred times. You’d think I’d have it totally memorized, but my brain just doesn’t work that way anymore. The Holy Spirit does though. It astounds me how often I will be in the midst of a difficult situation, start feeling a little hot around the collar, and all of a sudden one of the verses from this passage pops into my brain. I wish I could tell you how perfect I am at following it all the time. I'm not. I’m learning, though. Step by step and prayer by prayer. And when I’m working on activities for grandparents and grandchildren to teach them, it’s awesome to see God using it there as well.

It's not currently hanging in my bathroom as the shower humidity crinkled my old one and when I moved, it got put into the "to do" box. If I were really on top of things, I’d grab a roll of clear plastic contact paper, encase a new printout of the verses in that, and hang it up. Then it would stay much nicer, much longer. I’d add some pretty pictures too. Simple works for me, though. So I guess I'd best take my own advice, reprint it, hang it in my new bathroom, and start praying through it again. It'll be a great way for this member of the Sandwich Generation to start this New Year! I'd love to have you join me in this and let us know in the comments below. Have a blessed day and a great week! 🙂