“If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end. Love never dies.” ( I Corinthians 13:4-8 The Message Bible)
Look at how you handle a carton of eggs! It does not matter if it is the carton with twelve eggs or the carton with eighteen eggs, you handle them with care. From the moment that you load them in the shopping cart, ensuring that they are not damaged goods, until you place them in a special place in the refrigerator, you consciously exert the effort to care for your carton of eggs. Nothing gets stacked on the egg carton. They are not squeezed in just any old spot. You keep and eye on the expiration date to make sure their potential is realized.
Your home, not your house, but your home that consist of all the people who reside there or regularly stop by, need to be treated like handling a carton of eggs. Show that you care! Don’t do anything to damage anyone’s self- esteem! Show that these individuals, more valuable than eggs, that they have a special place in your heart. Exert the effort to care for these people you are blessed to have in your life. Keep from stacking stress and anxiety on them! Don’t just fit them in your life! Give them a special place in your life. Make sure that you are an asset to these individuals, assisting them in realizing their potential in life. You can do it! It is just like handling a carton of eggs! It takes some effort, but you took the effort with the carton of eggs, didn’t you? And just think of how the Lord Jesus, the One you will worship tomorrow, took all that effort to ensure you were taken care of! Yes, think about it this Saturday morning!
The key to what we are obviously being asked to do is love. Shouldn’t our love for one another be greater than the love we show when we are handling a carton of eggs? I thought you would agree! Go back to the opening verse and read about love from a selected, paraphrased version of the Bible. Have a great day! Be blessed!
“We know that we have passed out of death into Life, because we love the brothers and sisters. He who does not love remains in [spiritual] death.” (I John 3:14 The Amplified Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King