Love Conquers All

One Wednesday night service, Mrs. Becky, my Pastors wife said something that struck a chord with me.  She said, "Let your first thought be love." Out of that thought blossomed this post. (Thank you for sharing your wisdom Mrs. Becky!)

Love conquers all?  I know 1 Corinthians 13:8 says love never fails, so if it never fails, it must conquer all! 

What is love?  Long suffering, kind, perseveres, rejoices with the truth, protects, trusts (with boundaries), hopes.

What love is not? Envious, boastful, prideful, dishonest, self seeking, easily angered, delights in evil, does not fail.

When I think of the word conquer, I think of someone finally reaching the mountain top.  What is your mountain?  You can have a mountain of ______________, but love can knock it all down.  What would you fill the blank in with?  Rejection? Low self esteem? Jealously? Hate? Bitterness? Un-forgiveness?  Loneliness?

God loved you enough to cover all of your flaws/sin through the blood of Jesus Christ.  Can you stand up and be brave enough to conquer that mountain? 

Do the work!

Eradicate negative chatter.  Take all those negative thoughts and shoot them down!  Do NOT allow yourself to dwell on them.  Replace them with what is true, which is my next point.

Think on what is true.  I know this sounds a bit new agey, but this worked for me.  I literally breathed in and thought of only things God says is true about me, good stuff.  Then, I breathed out all the negative stuff that was trying to jump on me.  I continued this until I knew that those thoughts had left me.  As time goes on, I find it easier and easier to get rid of all those negative thoughts.

Let your first thought be love.  If the negative chatter involves a tense relationship, change those thoughts to thoughts of love.  I KNOW you can find something good about that person to think about.  It may be something very small and silly, "She can cook good." or "She's a good mom.".  Find something!  Anything! 

Pray the hard prayers.  If the negative chatter involves another person, pray for them.  Even if the only words you can get out are, "Jesus, help!" it's a great start.

Finally, do a heart check before you unleash on others.  I wouldn't recommend unleashing on anyone at all, but if you must confront make sure your heart is right. Make sure the reasons are right.  Make sure you do it in LOVE!  There is so much that could be written on this one.

Your mountain, my mountain can be conquered by love!  So, I'll say it again, before you speak, let your first thought be love. 


CH