“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” I Corinthians 13:4-5
The sun is shining brightly now, but an hour ago I wasn’t even sure where the sun was in the sky. The fog was so thick the traffic lights could have easily been mistaken for the eyes of a fierce dragon waiting for anyone to challenge. Luckily it wasn’t! HA!
The fog reminded me of what life is like when my heart begins a journey down the foggy road of criticism. Things get a little cloudy. And, before long my heart begins to pang with hunger for the love that does not flow — instead, the dragon waits in the fog.
I’ve learned that becoming critical of others robs our hearts of the joy, the love, the peace . . . wait, those are fruits of the Spirit! Being critical picks the fruit from my vine and replaces them with thorns of selfishness, thorns of rudeness, thorns of anger on stems of self-righteousness for personal gain. Where’s the love in that?
God calls us to be, longs for us to become and has created us in His image to love as we are loved. Harboring a critical heart of others only withers the heart of love to a prune-like state and starves the soul of the love He freely gives us each day. John 15:5 explains that the fruits of the Spirit WILL grow on (in) us as we are in Him and He in me!
My heart belongs to the King — there’s no doubt about that! But when I choose to disobey and act (behave) out of disobedience my heart gets foggy — it depletes the oxygen of the Spirit from my soul. May I speak in the love that flows from Him through me!
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14
by: Mark Cruver