I’ve begun a biblical study on love. Why love? Well, if we’re being honest, I haven’t been acting very loving lately. When my husband and I were first married he told me when I became angry, it was from zero to 60 in mere seconds. He was right. I would become so angry, the level of anger would not fit the situation, I was at a 10 when any reasonable person would be at a three. I knew when we had kids, I didn’t want them to see it, to experience it. I did not want them afraid to tell me something because they did not know how I would react; I did not want them walking around on eggshells in their own home.
So, I began the hard work of disciplining myself, self-reflection, digging to the root of it in prayer. I thought I had overcome it. From time to time, it would try to rear its ugly head, but I could take hold of it and not let it get out of control. That is until recently when it all came flooding back so quickly and so easily. I was embarrassed, disappointed in myself but the worst part was my kids witnessed it all. It brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. I kicked myself in the pants and walked around with guilt day in and day out, unable to get on top of it.
Things became a little better as I committed to reading the “love chapter”, I Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind…it does not envy…it is not easily provoked“. Yes Lord, that’s me, I am easily provoked, and I hate it! I’m trying Lord but it seems impossible to achieve, I fail every day, I don’t think I can.
Then like signpost on the side of the road helping us arrive to our desired destination, he pointed me to
1 John 4:9…”God is love.” Then the next signpost, Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
You see, if God is love and we were created in His image, we were created in the image of love. It is in our born-again nature; it is who we are. All of a sudden 2 Corinthians 5;17 makes more sense now, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” As a new creature with this new nature, I can be loving, not “easily provoked” because it is already in me, it is who I am.
This revelation has brought hope to my heart. I am still in the fight, working to wrap my mind and heart around this truth thus transforming more and more into who He created me to be.
What fight are you in today? Look to your new nature, what, as a new creation has already been imparted to you. As a committed, born-again Christ follower, this new nature overrides any family history/tendencies, trauma, hang ups or habits you may have. The old has gone, the new has come. It’s already in you.