Before you read my 4th and final post from my Live Second journey I have something to say….. Though the book I have been blogging through is titled ‘Live Second’ I feel like I am not second… Yes you heard me right I said “I am not second” The way I see it the order should be this way….
#1 Jesus
#2 Others
And Then …ME “I am Third, I am Fourth, I am Fifth…maybe even LAST.
with that being said here is my final post from my Live Second journey…..
Day 32 of my Live Second Journey: Love Defined
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal – 1 Corinthians 13:1
‘All of life, every good deed, every noble task, if not colored and painted with love creates only an empty canvas’ – Live Second
As many of you know I am a child sponsor and also child advocate through Compassion International. It is something I have been a part of for a little over 2 and a half years and one of the many huge blessings of my life.
The first time someone asked me to sponsor a child I gave them the answer of no but after I was asked I could not seem to get those kids out of my head. I kept going to Compassion’s website and looking at the kids over and over eventually sponsoring a little girl from the Dominican Republic named Walkiris.
I realize now it was God pressing me to sponsor but at the time of my life I was just starting my journey with Jesus and was not really in tune with all the Jesus ‘vibes’ yet. I think I sponsored her more because I thought it was what I should do more than doing it out of love.
When a child is sponsored through Compassion the sponsor and the child are encouraged to write letters to one another. In the beginning the letter writing was not one of my strong points. Even though now I will sit for hours writing a blog post or writing in a journal, writing letters was not something I liked to do and when it came to writing that little girl I could not think of a thing to write. Thankfully even though it made me very uncomfortable I did still write to her.
About 3 months after I sponsored Walkiris I received my first letter from her. Because she was only 4 years old a grownup wrote her letters for her and she drew me pictures signing the letter with her little finger print in blue ink. The minute I read that first letter was the moment I first saw the love. I could see all the hard work she had put into making those pictures special for me and there was just something about that blue fingerprint that moved me. After I received that special letter I began pouring love into the letters I wrote to her and somewhere along the line I began to love that little girl like she was my own child.
The author of Live Second wrote ‘All of life every good deed, every noble task if not colored and painted with love creates only an empty canvas’.
Something I realize now is though sponsoring her was a good deed, God did not call me to sponsor her to just send her money and do a good deed, He called me to love her. He called me to give of myself to her. He wanted me to take the time and write her letters. Had I just sent her a check and not took the time to write her I am pretty sure I would have missed a very huge blessing.
Something I have been discovering through these past few days of blogging is that love is not just some mushy feeling you get inside. Love is everything that makes anything worth while.
Love is what happens when your heart cares for others so much that you want do nice things for them.
Love is when you feel someone else’s pain and want to take if from them or when you find yourself loving or even crying for someone you have never met.
Love is also when you find yourself praying for a person who just treated you badly and you find yourself humbly washing their feet.
When you selflessly give of yourself and don’t think of receiving something in return, then you have found true love.
Today I saw a picture someone posted on facebook. It said, ‘I hate it when someone treats you like dirt and you still care about them even though you shouldn’t.’ I had to stop and think about that for a minute because truth is… we should still care about them not matter how they treated us. We don’t have to like them but we should love them. We should love like Jesus loved us. He hung on the cross praying for those who hung him there dying not only for my sins but those who hung him there too. We love because he loved first. I ask myself today, can I love like that?
‘Love has little to do with feelings and everything o do with selfless, humble thoughtful care for another person.’ – Live Second
Can you imagine our world if we did not have love? What would be our purpose of living?
Today is Christmas Eve and as you are going about your Christmas celebrations today and tomorrow please remember what Christmas is all about. Christmas is about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the greatest gift of all and He is love and once we accept the gift of his salvation we are redeemed and forever saved! If you put him first in your life and I promise you you will never regret it, your life will never be the same and you will have peace, love and joy forever and ever, that is love defined!
Thank you for reading Merry Christmas and may God bless you with his love, peace and joy this coming new year!
Do you want to know God? click the picture for more information

Do some last minute Christmas shopping and give a child the gift of your sponsorship this Christmas

Give an unsponsored child a gift this Christmas

#IASlovedefined
#itsaboutgiving
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