I can’t believe we are leaving in less than a month. It’s probably just going to become even more surreal the closer I get to May 31st. I’ve been praying this whole semester for God to be preparing me for this trip. As He’s continuing to be faithful in that, I can actually see my heart opening and learning more and more as He’s pouring into me.
I love people. And I’ve always been confident that I know how to serve and love on others. I was brought up in the church, and the term “love on people” was thrown around a BUNCH. I know how to do that well. Or so I thought. Turns out, I didn’t fully understand what that meant until recently. The Lord has been graciously and patiently revealing to me how He loves. And how different His love is from what I considered “good enough” love.
A lesson I learned in Francis Chan’s book Crazy Love: Take the verse in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind.
Love does not envy,
is not boastful, is not conceited,
5 does not act improperly,
is not selfish, is not provoked,
and does not keep a record of wrongs.
6 Love finds no joy in unrighteousness
but rejoices in the truth.
7 It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
Sound great, doesn’t it? However, it’s so overused; do we really know what it means and do we really understand it? Francis Chan told us to replace the word “love” with our own name.
Victoria is patient, Victoria is kind.
Victoria is not envious of other,
Victoria does not boast about herself and is not conceited,
Victoria does not act improperly, and she is not selfish or provoked,
Victoria does not keep a record of wrongs that others do to her.
Victoria finds no joy in sin, but rejoices in the truth.
If you read that verse in that light, it’s rather convicting. And as I realized that I didn’t love the way the Lord has commanded us to, it started this journey of God teaching me His perfect way of loving others. It’s harder, it’s more challenging, it requires you to lay down your life and your own comforts. It’s a revelation. Because in this lesson of love, everything else about the Bible starts making more sense. It’s the cornerstone of Christianity. Not that I’ve mastered it or anything. But I’m definitely being brought to school on this topic. Isn’t it awesome that our God never stops teaching us things.
All I have to say is, I am so ready to go out and “love on others”!
victoriamillerjourney 