I don't know who authored this, but it brought peace and a smile to me today so I thought I'd share:
First Corinthians 13, The Christmas Version
If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shining balls, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator.
If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook.
If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing.
If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crystal snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata but do not focus on Christ, I have missed the point.
Love stops the cooking to hug the child.
Love sets aside the decorating to kiss the husband.
Love is kind, though harried and tired.
Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens.
Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way.
Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return, but rejoices in giving to those who can't.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.
Video games will break, pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust.
But giving the gift of love will endure.
My note: We can only freely give that which we have received. Have you stopped to absorb the magnificence of His great love for you today? Maybe that's why you stopped by here - for the gentle reminder - God loves YOU!!!!!
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4 comments:
Beautifully said! Thank you for the reminder. If it is okay, I'll repost it someplace. We all need to be reminded of these truths during this busy season!
Blessings~
Beautiful. You always look at the world through kind eyes, with joy and optimism.
Love everything you list, the contrasts are amazing.
Have a lovely week,
xo
Zuzana
Love it!
I also have to correct myself on the last comment I left. I got out my ornaments to decorate the tree and realized that most of them are NOT about Christ like I thought. :o Most of my decorations are but not the ornaments like I thought. I just needed to get that off my chest. :)
This is great. Grace under fire. I still need lots of work in this area.
Watching my first "baby" grow up so quickly into a "real boy" makes me take stock every day in what is most important. Christmas night my house was trashed with gifts and bags of paper that needed to be taken out and crumbs from Santa's cookies and milk to be washed, etc. etc. Instead of doing the work "first" as I have conditioned myself, instead, I laid on the couch with just the Christmas tree lights aglow and read my big boy a Max Lucado book I bought him that teaches about God's unwavering love no matter our disobedience.
It turned out to be one of those sweet and teachable moments that you couldn't plan and ended with tears on my part. So why is it so hard for me to stop my harried and hurried more often? After years of perservering to get through whatever was thrown my way it's now hard to just "stop." Is it just me that fights this????
We obviously have things we must do as an adult, but it's so hard to find the balance. Sorry for the book. This has been on my mind more and more lately as I still strive as a pretty new mom to do everything that needs to be done and teach my kids the important lessons, but make sure that in the process I actually "show" them and not just tell them that they are the world to me.
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