Wear me as a signet ring on your heart, as a ring on your hand. Love is as overpowering as death. Devotion is as unyielding as the grave. Love’s flames are flames of fire, flames that come from the Lord. Raging water cannot extinguish love, and rivers will never wash it away. [Song of Solomon 8:6-7a (GW)]
I was right. In fact, I was so right I deserved a gold star and he was so wrong that he should have gotten a big red “F” but he never admitted it. Although I congratulated myself for not saying, “I told you so!” I still wanted him to eat a little humble pie. Then the Holy Spirit did His job and rightly convicted me of being a bit self-righteous and a whole lot mean-spirited. I was reminded of Luther, a man from our church who I called “a disciple of Christ” in a previous devotion. He always greeted people with a smile and the phrase, “Jesus loves you and I do, too.” As I heard Luther’s words in my mind, I stopped in mid-gripe and remembered that Jesus loves my man and I do, too.
I wrote the previous paragraph several months’ ago and the devotion remained unfinished in my “work on” folder until I came upon it this morning. I don’t even remember what it was that vexed me so much but I do remember how I nearly allowed Satan to drive a wedge between me and the man I love. Had I allowed it, an incident that was trivial then could have developed into something rather troubling by now. Fortunately, I chose love instead of spite. Nevertheless, I shudder at thinking how easily something so trivial could have stolen our joy for even an instant.
If I made a list of my favorite chapters in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13 would rank way up there. No matter how many times I study it, I never tire of reading about love—not romance—but true love—love that gives of itself, overlooks, forgives and yields, love that is polite, committed, unconditional, and respectful. Love finds joy in sorrow, beauty in brokenness, hope in despair, abundance in scarcity and laughter in tears. Love blesses, honors, shares, protects and endures; it serves, cooperates, builds and trusts. When we love, we delight in one another, listen to each other, and give without expecting anything in return. Love overlooks all those petty annoyances that are part of living with someone and love certainly doesn’t waste a minute griping, nagging or serving up humble pie. Love is a choice and love always remembers that “Jesus loves you and I do, too!”
Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave. [Martin Luther]
As I grabbed my jacket, I noticed the familiar Under Armour logo on the front. Looking down, I saw that my t-shirt advertised a local boot camp class and my shorts displayed Fila’s logo. Eyeing my husband, I saw that his shorts displayed the same logo as mine and his shirt advertised the physical therapy clinic that has treated him over the years. While my cap sported the famed Nike swish, the name of a local pub was embroidered on his. A red swish peeked out from the top of his shoes while my socks were decorated with New Balance’s logo and pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness. The large “N” on each side of our sneakers identified them as another New Balance purchase. We were virtual walking billboards and we’d paid a hefty price for the privilege of advertising other people’s goods and services!
When my children were younger, there were several occasions that I wanted to pretend I had no idea to whom they belonged! There was that time one noticed (and used) the red emergency stop button on an escalator, or another discovered the meaning of the “domino effect” after pulling over one stanchion at the airport and seeing another ten follow suit, or one managed to be so nasty to the babysitter that she went home in tears, or when hotel security came knocking because of spitballs dropping from the window of our children’s adjoining hotel room. I really didn’t want to admit I knew them, let alone had given birth to them. We expected better from our children and their conduct certainly didn’t bring honor to our name. Unfortunately, their behavior, while unacceptable, was a somewhat unavoidable and unpleasant part of their growing up. Fortunately, those times of boundary testing are long over and I am now proud that they bear my name.
Writing about my granddaughter yesterday made me think about birth defects. In actuality, all of us have what could be called birth defects—it’s just that some are more obvious than others. While all of God’s children have defects, none are defective. I consider a young man at our Florida church. Cerebral palsy keeps him strapped into a wheel chair and his physical limitations are immense. There is, however, nothing defective about this bright young man. I ponder the enthusiastic grocery worker with Down’s syndrome. She may have an extra chromosome, but there is nothing defective about her. I think of a fellow at church who has no ears. He may be deaf but there is nothing defective about him, nor is there anything defective about a friend’s grand born with only a partial arm and hand or my grand, with her heart defects and learning issues. They are all marvelously made—different from others, but no less wonderful.
Devotions of the Heart 