Love Keeps Flowing

"Love Keeps Flowing" 2.5"x3.5" Acrylic on MiniCanvas

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.

1Corinthians 13:4-8a NIV

     This miniature painting of a creek, yet to freeze over, reminds me of my desire to let the love of God flow through me no matter what the temperature. This temperature might be felt through rumors or flippant remarks. For me, this threatens some points in my stream to nearly freeze or at least cause a skim of ice to form on my being patient or in my ability to persevere. You may have your own points of freezing, and what is troubling is that sometimes we don't even recognize what is on our personal thermometers.

     I learned of an exercise recently to help identify those points. Using the passage above, wherever the word "love" or "it" is written, substitute your name. There is something about saying it out loud that rings forth the truth or not and to what degree.

      The perfect truth in the passage above can only be attributed to Jesus who always kept the love flowing during His earthly ministry, and it is still flowing through His Spirit who wants to reside in each one of us. If the Spirit resides in you maybe you might like to take a little meter reading and see what is going on. We can all improve in the area of love. I pray that your love will keep flowing no matter how cold the temperature gets. Love never fails.