February 13, 2021
BLOG by Deacon James and Carla Clanagan
February is commonly referred to as the month of Love due to Valentine’s Day.
It’s important that we share love the way the word of God describes it. We should have “Agape LOVE”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
Relationship is a state of being connected. That connectedness has a shared emotion which is love. Love according to the bible is greater than faith and hope (I Corinthians 13:13). Three types of love are, (1) Eros which is romantic love; (2) Phileo a friend bond; and (3) Agape is unconditional (God Love). I have come to realize that the strength of any relationship is based on what type of Love you share. It's either conditional or unconditional. Many relationships begin with conditional love. Although most would not admit to that (in our carnal thoughts), WHY? Conditional love is worldly love. I love you as long as you are meeting a specific need of mine. I love you as long as we are happy in this relationship. I love you as long as I feel like I want to be here. When the “feeling” or emotion has ended then we no longer love that person. Many things can happen in a relationship that causes us to lose that loving feeling. Hard times, financial instability, illness or infidelity to name a few. We cannot know how to love unconditionally until we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior. When we commit our life to Jesus and then build on that foundation our relationships survival rate increases. Jesus (God, the trinity) is the prime example of Unconditional Love. The word tells us that he (God) sacrificed his son (Jesus) to atone for human sin.
We have been married for 26 years and often tell others, it’s because Jesus has kept us through it all. The word of God says a cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12). With God at the center of our marriage it reminds us of 3 things. One, that we have a higher power to lean on when the going gets tough. Two, as individuals we have a partner other than one another that we can vent to and more importantly pray to. Three, our foundation has been anchored. This reminder helps us to remember that emotions come and go and feelings are fleeting. Many people let their present emotional state determine their love for each other. Sometimes we have to be intentional in remembering the feeling we had on our wedding day. Maybe even the day I asked her to marry me and she said yes. Remembering the first time we said I love you (that’s taking it way back to the beginning). There are times when it’s necessary to go back to where it all started, whether it's our relationship with one other or our relationship with Christ. This walk down memory lane helps us to see that the good outweighs the bad, not only will we not complain but we will keep pushing. More importantly it reminds us that we let go of God somewhere along the way and need to get back in place.
Today we consider our life’s blessed because of God. He kept us when we didn’t even know we needed to be kept. He continues to keep us and grow our love. Like the first scripture (1Cor. 13:4-8) says Love is a lot of things but one thing for certain and the most important part to us is LOVE NEVER FAILS.
Dear God,
Thank you for all that you have done for us as individuals and as a couple. We come to you today with a humble heart and a bowed head. Forgive us when we take our eyes off of you and try to navigate this relationship as the world does. Help us to remember our first love, which is Jesus. Strengthen our bond and continue to grow us and use us for the building of your Kingdom. Through it all we will give you all the praise, all the honor and all the glory. In the mighty matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amen!
Deacon James and Carla Clanagan
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