Love Month – Week 2

1 Corinthians 13:5 – It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Whoah. I don't know about you, but this verse smacked me in the face. Some of these are a struggle at times. We need this week to soak in this verse!

As a family:

Read this verse together to begin the week. Continue reciting it throughout the week until you all have it memorized.

Discuss this verse together. What do these words mean? Some of these ideas are totally counter cultural and we will need to put them in context with our kids.

- We are valuable, loved and important. God placed within us desires. Those are great! But, we must remember not to be self-seeking. Seek first God and His kingdom! The Bible says that as much as it is up to us, we should be at peace with everyone. How hard is that when you don't get your way? When your feelings are hurt? But being difficult doesn't make it any less necessary. We must seek to love others the way God loves them and that includes not being selfish.

Pursue: Each day, practice pursuing the qualities of love listed in this week's Scripture.

Involvement: How can we honor our siblings, children, parents, etc.?

- Remember to consider your own faults in these areas with your children. Don't feel like you have to shy away from things you've done that you aren't particularly happy about. Take this opportunity to talk about it and apologize.

Love your neighbor: How can we honor those that God puts in our path?

- There are so many ways to honor people, but some of the easiest and often forgotten are by giving your time and attention. When we are self-seeking, we want to dominate conversations and talk about us. When we focus on honoring others, we can give them our time and attention, even if our flesh would like to do something else.

God's Love: Brainstorm with your kids...what does this verse tell us about God's love for us?

Pray together: Each day, take time to pray with your children and ask God to help you and them demonstrate this week's love qualities.

As a couple:

 

I am looking forward to some deep discussion with my sweet hubby this week. Spend time talking about how you could make your spouse feel honored. Think about times that you've become easily angered at your spouse and how you could change that in the future. Talk through those times together and apologize. Ask your spouse for examples of times you may have been self-seeking, rather than focusing on what would be best for your spouse and/or marriage. Lastly, discuss the idea of keeping no record of wrongs. Do you bring up things from the past that caused you grief? Issues and arguments that you've had previously? Or does your spouse do that to you? How does it feel to have your wrongs from years past thrown at you?

This isn't healthy. And it isn't Biblical. If you are continually bringing up things from the past, ask yourself if you have really forgiven your spouse and healed from that. If not, take the time to talk through that and work it out. Pray about it together. God wants you on the same team. He wants you happy. He wants a loving, Biblical marriage for you.

But. It. Takes. Work.

Put in the work this week. You and your spouse are worth it!