“Love suffers long and is kind;
Love does not envy:
Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely,
does not seek its own,
is not provoked,
thinks no evil;
does not rejoice in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things.
Love never fails.”
~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love calls me out of my plans, my schedule, my routines. Love calls me out of my insulated padded box of a life…into…the open air of inconvenience, pain, discomfort, the continual crossing of my way, my plans, my accomplishments…my selfishnesses. This open air life is bracing, yet…as in the wilderness, the only way to keep alive in harsh climates is to keep moving, so in this venture out of selfishness into the continual discomfort of unprotected living, the only way to keep alive is to keep loving.
All my self-ism is only combatted through LOVE. I have to continually leave the one and run to the other…there’s no way around it. Selfism and love are diametrically opposite. What a challenge! What a call!

“Oh Lord Jesus, I need Your mercy in my life. A new focus. A new direction. Self control. Lord Jesus, I yield myself to You: my day, my duties, my desires, my people, my loves, my moments…Lord, I need new constraints…not the old ones…but new ones…probably even more constraining…but different.
Lord, it is wrong for me to look past those who You have set me with. It is wrong for me to be displeased with this together-life. Lord, not my will, but Thy will be done today. Welcome.”