Face to Face -1 Corinthians 13

Life is good. Driving back from seeing a great movie tonight (Be Kind Rewind) with my good friend Ryan, I felt a strong sense of happiness and peace. The feelings of tension and doubt that had plagued me earlier this week are gone, as are the stresses of midterms and the unrelenting pace of weekday life. It seems silly that I'd just now let this sink in, but maybe I was too caught up in my own affairs and pressures to realize it.

I am truly thankful for all that I am blessed with. My wonderful and loving Grandmother (who, along with my Granddaddy, lives in my family's home in Brentwood), often asks me if I take the time to truly count my blessings and thank God for all that I've been given. I tried to count them tonight, and felt awed at how much I've been given. I realized that even if I was naked, hungry, and isolated in a barren land, there would still be an infinite amount of thanks to be offered to the Father who Loves me, because of how deep and powerful that Love is.

As a creative person, I understand the joy and pride that comes from seeing something good come from one's own work. In that sense, I have the smallest taste of the love of my Creator, which beams down upon each one of us -- his beautiful and beloved ones.

With the sacrificial death of His only Son, our broken images became a true and perfect reflection of their creator, and though at this moment we can only see "as through a mirror dimly," we shall soon see our completed selves face to face with God.

I feel this great hope and promise that rises within me, calling me to worship and praise the Mighty One who ordained me for his Purpose. There is nothing more exciting to me than this thought -- that I am special, adored, and made to accomplish something truly important for the sake of the Lord I long to serve! The family, friends, talents, and even the material gifts I've been undeservingly blessed with should not be taken for granted, but should be cause for praise every second.

1 Corinthians 13

Love

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

May I live in a continual state of thankfulness, overflowing with Love as a more perfect embodiment of these verses. Let me count my blessings until I can count no more, and celebrate the Father who has gifted me with so much. Hallelujah to our Lord!