Love Shows Up!
“Love is large and incredibly patient! Love is gentle and
consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing
comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s
achievements nor inflate its own importance. Love does not
traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own
honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. Love
joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is
wrong. Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops
believing the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat,
for it never gives up.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (TPT).
Can this love that Paul writes about to the Corinthians turn a
community into a family? I would say the short answer is yes
by connecting with others in our own sphere of influence and
meeting people where they are, one interaction at a time. It’s
important to meet people where they are…and to not try to
change them, fix them, or correct them, but instead recognize
where they are in that very moment. Meet them in their
greatest joy or deepest pain. At times when words simply will
not form in your mouth, just acknowledge, “I don’t know what
to say to you right now, but what I do know is that I want to be
here for you.” When you are able to say that to another human
being they immediately feel connected to you, understood by
you, and they don’t feel alone anymore…fostering a sense of
belonging….like family. God has His own version of “meeting
people where they are,” and it’s found in Romans 12:15:
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who
weep.” How beautiful….how perfect….how just like God! This
extraordinary passage of Scripture implies that if there is
reason to celebrate, then celebrate joyfully. And if there is
reason for weeping, then weep and do so deeply. God is the
creator and author of all emotions, meant to be felt and
expressed both as individuals and together in community.
PRESIDENT Abraham Lincoln in the year 1856 confirmed a
most familiar proverb to the United States, “Actions speak
louder than words.” Interestingly, we also find this phrase in
Scripture through the words of John in 1 John 3:18 (NLT).
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other, let
us show the truth by our actions.” In today’s language, 1 John
3:18 just might say, Love shows up! I experienced this on a very
personal level just recently when my mother passed away.
Community became family to me by way of the same kind of
love I have written about in this article. God’s own people were
in fact the hands and feet of Jesus to me and my family in very
practical ways…..they just met me where I was and supplied
my every need. And if they didn’t know what to do, they prayed
or sent a gift card or brought a coffee to me or delivered food
or sent a text of encouragement and the list goes on and on
because love shows up in many ways and in different forms. It
sacrifices for those it serves. So….I ask again, can the love Paul
speaks of turn a community into a family? I would say it’s a
matter of the heart….and how much we desire connection. I do
know the more we look beyond ourselves, the closer we bond
to others, and the more we serve each other the more we begin
to look like family.