I have always had a sneaking suspicion that I see the world a little differently than most people. When I drive, I take license plates numbers and try to figure out a pattern in them. When I try to explain how I got to a certain thought, I sometimes get odd looks from people. My wife just shakes her head at my though processes on when and how household cleaning and maintenance is done. I get it. I am a little off.
So the other day i was thinking about God. God for me is less of a specific person or being and more the culmination of my experiences with him. I will be the first person to admit that God is bigger, stronger, and more wonderful than I will ever be able to grasp. But one thing I do know is that God loves me. He loves me more than I love my daughter. And I love her more and more each day. But for God, love is more than something he just does. See, God is love. God is the origin of love. We can love only because he first shared his love with us. Love is who God is and where we see and feel and hear God.
So I was working on the curriculum for youth group this past week and I was reading 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. I admit, we read it at my wedding. I like it. But as I thought about it, I changed it a little, Or in my head, I read it as (I think) it was originally intended. Here is how I read it:
4 God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. 5 God does not dishonor others, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. 6 God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 God never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
God is love.
So the other day i was thinking about God. God for me is less of a specific person or being and more the culmination of my experiences with him. I will be the first person to admit that God is bigger, stronger, and more wonderful than I will ever be able to grasp. But one thing I do know is that God loves me. He loves me more than I love my daughter. And I love her more and more each day. But for God, love is more than something he just does. See, God is love. God is the origin of love. We can love only because he first shared his love with us. Love is who God is and where we see and feel and hear God.
So I was working on the curriculum for youth group this past week and I was reading 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. I admit, we read it at my wedding. I like it. But as I thought about it, I changed it a little, Or in my head, I read it as (I think) it was originally intended. Here is how I read it:
4 God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. 5 God does not dishonor others, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. 6 God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 God never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
God is love.