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30 Days Of Love!
Understanding the power of Love to improve your relationships..
By Jennifer Keitt

Let's take the next thirty days to practice LOVING! Now, I'm not talking about the kind of love we're used to the selfish, I'll love you if you love me, approach, but I am talking about really getting a clearer understanding about how powerful the Love of God is when we practice it every day of our lives, on ourselves, with our husbands, children and friends. Be Blessed!

Based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (Amplified Bible)

§         DAY ONE: Love endures long. To endure means to continue in the same state; to remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding. Today meditate and practice remaining positive, and firm under the pressures that your spouse, your family or life puts on you today. LOVE ENDURES LONG. You can do it today girl, God is helping us!

§         DAY TWO: Love is patient. To be patient means bearing pains and trials calmly or without complaint; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty or adversity; able or willing to bear. I know you think you can't be patient, but you can! Today bear pains and trials calmly, without murmuring and complaining. Allow yourself to be willing to remain upbeat and happy even when things may seem tough today. You can do it!

§         DAY THREE: Love is kind. To be kind means to be affectionate, loving; disposed to be helpful; agreeable, gentle. Give hugs, kisses, smooches and affection to everyone you love today! Be helpful to that co-worker, agree, even if you don't want to. Practice loving through kindness today.

§         DAY FOUR: Love never is envious. To be envious means that you are majoring on wanting something that someone else has... success, fame, fortune... it may even imply an urgent, even malicious desire to see that person dispossessed. Girl, what they got, trust me, you really don't want! We don't know the price some folk pay for what we see that they have! Are we willing to pay the price that they did to have what we think will make us happy? Trust me, don't envy anyone. Don't look at their bodies, hair, house, cars or life. You can make your life better starting with the new lover in you! Don't envy, it's ugly!

§         DAY FIVE: Love never boils over with jealousy. To be jealous stresses intolerance of a rival for possession of what one regards as one's own possession or due, or it may imply intensely zealous efforts to keep what one treasures. More often than not it carries a strong implication of distrust, suspicion, enviousness or sometimes anger. You do NOT " own" your man! Don't be jealous, even if he's given you reason to! The love of God is so powerful, it will give us strength and ability to withstand our emotions! You'll never keep a man by being jealous, instead learn to value, appreciate and improve you and he won't be able to resist his new found lover! Don't boil with the green-eyed monster... NEVER be jealous!

§         DAY SIX: Love is not boastful. To boast means to puff oneself up in speech; to speak or assert with excessive pride. Let's get our heads out of clouds about us! Let's NOT believe the hype and our own press. There is nothing worse that sisters with attitude! Practice giving others props and not boasting about all the good we do! God will exalt us when it's time!

§         DAY SEVEN: Love is not vainglorious. Vainglory is excessive or ostentatious pride especially in one's achievements. Gotten awards, getting paid lots of money, you know you got it going on? Then FORGET IT! Ostentatious pride is obnoxious! And don't forget that God Himself resists the proud!

§         DAY EIGHT: Love does not display itself haughtily. To be haughty is to be blatantly and disdainfully proud. You've seen her, head all up in the sky, can't touch how cute she thinks she is! Haughtiness, is NOT loving... it is bad. The bible teaches us not to THINK more highly of ourselves than we should... let's be grateful for God's love and mercy toward us, and realize without Him, nothing would be possible (or exist!)

§         DAY NINE: Love is not conceited. To be conceited is to have an excessively high opinion of oneself. It's amazing to me about how much in teaching us love, that God is instructing us to keep our attitude and thoughts and pride out of the way! Do you think He's trying to tell us something? If you are struggling in your marriage, maybe YOU are your own problem. You can't love him, until you don't think too highly of yourself. Not LOW self-esteem, but God-esteem that is based, grounded and rooted in what Christ has done in and through you! Don't be conceited.

§         DAY TEN: Love is not arrogant. To be arrogant means exaggeration or disposed to exaggerate one's own worth or importance in an overbearing manner. " He knows he can't make it without me!" " This family would cease to exist if it weren't for me." " I'm holding this marriage together by myself." Sound familiar. Whether or not truth is found in any of these statements... the bottom-line is that we as women can tend to be a bit arrogant when it comes into our roles in life. Be careful that your own arrogance doesn't stop you from loving God's way.

§         DAY ELEVEN: Love is not inflated with pride. Pride is inordinate self-esteem. Today, once again, keep self in check, making sure that humility is what you're clothed with, instead of pride.

§         DAY TWELVE: Love is not rude. To be rude means to be offensive in manner or action, discourteous, uncivilized, savage, coarse, vulgar, forceful or abrupt. Please ladies, today let's practice saying kind words to everyone. Let's not be rude, abrupt, or forceful when we get tired today, or when things get a little tough. Let's maintain courtesy and let our manners find their way to the surface today, by saying please and thank-you to everyone that blesses us!

§         DAY THIRTEEN: Love is not unmannerly. To have manners are good ways of acting. Acting good, being on good behavior... we tell our children when we go out in public that they better be on their " best behavior," well practice your love walk today by putting yourself and your " best behavior." Remember, love is not unmannerly.

§         DAY FOURTEEN: Love does not act unbecomingly. Unbecoming means not according with the standards appropriate to one's position or condition of life. Girl, you are a daughter of the Most High God! You are a King's kid! Don't walk beneath who you are! Queens and Princesses behave in a manner that is becoming of royalty. Hold your head up because of who your Daddy is and have a great day today being the head and above in all circumstances!

§         DAY FIFTEEN: Love does not insist on its own rights. To insist means to take a resolute stand. Rights are something to which one has a just claim; something that one may properly claim as due. In other words this means we should not take a stand on things that we feel we have a claim to or things we feel are due us. He was wrong this morning when he hurt you, the kids knew better, your girlfriend was just being nasty... that's o.k., we're walking in love from now on and we realize that we can't insist on our own rights. We know we should be mad, but we choose to love and to forgive and to keep the power flowing in our lives today! Let it go, it's not worth losing your love over!

§         DAY SIXTEEN: Love does not insist on its own way. To insist means to take a resolute stand. Way is one's own course, habits, common behavior or mode of being. This means we should not take a stand to enforce our own course or habits or behaviors or modes of being. Your husband wants to do it different than you do? Your teen wants to wear something that you simply don't like? Your boss wants you to stay late and you don't feel like it? Well these are prime opportunities today to LOVE! Let's not make it be our way, let's bend to make others happy today.

§         DAY SEVENTEEN: Love is not self-seeking. To be self-seeking is the act or practice of selfishly advancing one's own ends; seeking to further one's own interest. Don't try to get that promotion or plum assignment by being self-seeking. In actuality, if you help promote other's interests, you will find yourself getting all that you ever wanted or needed in life! Practice helping others instead of seeking to further your own interests today... at the end of the day, you'll find yourself walking in love!

§         DAY EIGHTEEN: Love is not touchy. To be touchy is marked by readiness to take offense on slight provocation; acutely sensitive or irritable. I know today may be a " PMS" day, but let's not forget that we are working hard to walk in love! Control those emotions... determine to not be touchy or agitated today for ANY reason! Stop being sensitive and start walking in love.

§         DAY NINETEEN: Love is not fretful. To fret means to be irritable; showing agitation. They are on your last nerves, I know it, but let it go! Love is not fretful, this means we don't show our agitation. We don't make it a common practice to walk and talk agitated or irritable. Nobody wants to be around a nasty person, so today, don't be irritable... LOVE!

§         DAY TWENTY: Love is not resentful. To have resentment means a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at something regarded as a wrong, insult or injury. Forgiveness is one of the most powerful forces on this earth. Letting go of suffered wrongs. Releasing people from their offenses against you is one of the most powerful things that you can do. This is NOT for their benefit but for yours! Practice today, letting go of suffered wrongs, let them go, don't think about them, don't dwell on them, don't be resentful!

§         DAY TWENTY-ONE: Love takes no account of the evil done to it. Self-explanatory... love does not keep score, hold grudges, plot revenge or wish ill will toward people who do evil... even when they do it deliberately. Love ‘em girl, don't keep score!

§         DAY TWENTY-TWO: Love pays no attention to a suffered wrong. To pay attention means to apply the mind to an object or sense of thought. So operating in love means to give no thought to a suffered wrong. Don't occupy your mental energy on mess. Take that precious time and meditate on the word of God, His blessings, His promises to you for your life! Hide the word in your heart, and stop putting mess in your heart based on what they did to you and how they hurt you!

§         DAY TWENTY-THREE: Love does not rejoice at injustice. Injustice is the violation of rights or the rights of another; unfairness. When someone " gets" what's coming to them, we don't rejoice as Christians. We shouldn't be people of revenge, but people of love who do not find injustice good.

§         DAY TWENTY-FOUR: Love does not rejoice at unrighteousness. Unrighteousness is anything sinful or wicked. We don't move toward wicked or sinful things, we should be running or fleeing as the bible says from sin! Practice love today, but running toward truth and goodness and fleeing from sin.

§         DAY TWENTY-FIVE: Love rejoices when right and truth prevail. To rejoice means to give joy to; delight, gladden. Kids have a great day in school, got good grades or did your husband do something special today, REJOICE with them! Anytime rightness or truth stand strong, we should be rejoicing. Part of our love life is championing truth and God's goodness!

§         DAY TWENTY-SIX: Love bears up under anything and everything that comes. To bear means to be equipped or furnished with; to endure; to put up with something trying or painful. We're coming down to the home-stretch... are you LOVING? Then I know you are enduring with your trials and circumstances. You are equipped to handle it girl, with the Love you've been exercising! Remember today that as a lover you can bear up under anything and everything that comes your way!

§         DAY TWENTY-SEVEN: Love is ever ready to believe the best of every person. To believe means to have a firm conviction as to the reality or goodness of something; to hold an opinion; to consider to be true or honest. Yep, even if you know they're a known liar—believe that this time they are telling the truth! Always be willing to believe the best of every one at every given moment. Remember, INNOCENT until proven guilty!

§         DAY TWENTY-EIGHT: Love's hopes are fadeless under all circumstances. To hope means to cherish a desire with expectation of fulfillment; to expect with desire; desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment. If you are a true lover then you are a woman who is forever believing that good is going to come to you and your loved ones! Love is always hoping, believing, trusting, knowing that something good is gonna happen... keep the faith, believe! Love's hopes are fadeless... that marriage can make it, you won't be in debt forever, your children will be successful... you will be all that God has ordained for you to be!

§         DAY TWENTY-NINE: Love endures everything without weakening. To endure means to continue in the same state; to remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding; to undergo as a hardship especially without giving in. You don't know how strong you are until you have done all and you are still standing! Love endures without getting weak! Been through testing and trials... girl, you're still alive, that means you are still standing and you are a winner! Love today by knowing that you can continue in the same state, you can remain firm with the bill collectors calling and the mortgage unpaid. Even in misfortune with him losing his job, you can still endure... you won't yield to the stress and pressure. You can undergo these temporary hardships... remember, the things that we see are temporary, but the things that we don't see (with our natural eyes) are eternal. Start seeing with your eyes of faith and love and know you can endure without weakening.

§DAY THIRTY! Love never fails. Love never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end. To fail means to lose strength, weaken, to fade or die away; to stop functioning; to become absent or inadequate; to disappoint the expectations or trust of; lack, to leave undone. Girl, love will never fade out! You can't fall out of love. If you have, you were either NEVER in love in the first place or God's word is lying. If you don't have " love feelings" then rekindle your commitment to love and the feelings with re-ignite. Love will never loose its strength. Love will never weaken. Love will never die. Love will never stop functioning. Love will never be inadequate. Love will never disappoint your expectations. Love will never be lacking. Love will never fade out! From this day forward remember that being a lover will mean that you will never fail in your relationships or life!