L-O-V-E

Last night, after a ridiculous bout with sibling rivalry and an over the top reaction from my eldest to discipline, I have to say I was a tad, no, a lot overwhelmed. My biggest pet peeve when it comes to my children is watching them interact toward one another in a negative way. I am sure I overexaggerate it at times because it really bothers me. 

Which totally hits a spiritual application and I'm able to see why God mentions loving one another so much in the Bible. How He longs for us to LOVE! And to simply love other believers. AHHHH... I feel like I totally get how He feels when I watch my girls act with such poor intent toward each other. I tell my girls all the time that the best way to show ME love is to show each other love. And, isn't that what Christ said too? "They will know you by your love"... "If you love me, feed my sheep!" OUCH! Hits home for me. 

So, last night as I sat alone after the whole ordeal and just cried and listed to the first song that came to my mind "How Great the Father's Love for Us" and began just writing out some of my feelings about the situation, and really taking blame for how they were treating each other, God whispered a verse in my ear. 

"Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love covers a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8 HCSB)

At first, it was just for me. He was reminding me that HIS love has covered MY mistakes. 

Then, it was for me toward my kids. He reminded my that MY love for them should cause me to look past their faults and love them through it rather than trying to change them. 

Then, it became for my girls. I realized, hey, we can all glean from this verse. We can treat each other kindly because "love covers a multitude of sins"! Therefore, when I love _______, I don't notice their faults because my love covers those faults. 

And, lastly, I was reminded that love is not a feeling, rather a choice, an action. Otherwise, why would He have commanded us to love over and over again. 

So, I'm super excited because God gave me our family's theme for this coming season in our lives. My goal is that we focus on LOVE. That we learn about love. That we talk about love. That we practice love. That love becomes the center of everything we do. After all, according to this verse (and many others) love is to be ABOVE ALL, the foundation on which we stand. The root for every other "good" that we do. 

As I dive into this idea, I get a little overwhelmed, but I'm excited because I think God has a lot to teach each of us in the area of truly understanding what love is. 

So, bring on the season of LOVE!