Monday, April 14, 2014

Learning to Love

April 14-16, 2014 - Learning to Love – Manna by Dorothy Callies

1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love suffers long and is kind.” 

We read so much about God’s love and how He had shown us His love. But now I have a question: Do you ever wonder exactly how do we “learn to love” and put them into action?  

I read an article that told a story about a missionary who went to Greenland in 1721. A missionary struggled to learn their language and struggled to be kind to the people. A missionary had been at Greenland until 1733, a small pox epidemic swept through Greenland, wiping out two-thirds of the native people. 

This missionary shares the suffering and began to help the native people, physically and spiritually. It melted the hearts of a missionary and the people together. A missionary’s life was now better represented the stories that was told to them of God’s great love. The native people could at last grasp God’s desire to love them, too. Even in suffering, native people’s heart turned to God.

It took 12 years for a missionary who struggled to express love in a way that taught people about God. Knowing they were weak and needy people yet God showed them what love is like. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for their sins (John 3:16). 

This story brought a deep impression upon my heart about how a missionary struggled in a native field out there while we are here in America struggling with our own personal problems on how do we “learn to love?” 

Love is a very powerful language such as “I love you” but it is another thing to be able to “demonstrate our love in action.” Why does this story impress me? This missionary reminds me of “me” because so often my patient is short. I realized that God must have known what to talk to me about when I was looking for something to read that relates to the “Unfailing Love of God.” 

It took 12 years, Lord? When I read this verse about “Love suffers long and is kind,” it answer my question about my relationship with families, friends and in the ministries. Many times stories like this helps me to understand the “work of the Lord” in all of us. So He is asking us to . . .

Trust God today!

Song: It’s Just Like His Great Love
It’s just like Jesus to roll the clouds away;
It’s Just like Jesus to keep me day by day;
It’s just like Jesus all along the way;
It’s just like His great love.
(Edna R. Worrell, Sing His Praise)

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