Cute picture. I mean, who would not like to see a young child conversing with his teddy bear? Obviously, his thoughts are of God and HIS role as creator; merge that with this boy’s exposure to cartoons- and there you go- Boo-Boo. How innocent, how precious, is the mind of a child.
Recently, in Bible class, we have been discussing 1 Corinthians 13 and the concept of love (from a practical standpoint). Now, it seems like I have heard this Scripture again and again and again, but I must ask myself; do I genuinely understand it? For that matter, how do I understand as a matter of practicality? I am a human being, made in the image of God; I think, I feel and I act. These “parts” of my being work in unison to help me understand. My thoughts direct me, my feelings motivate me and my actions reflect both my thoughts and feelings. Understanding comes from thinking and our thoughts reflect what we have absorbed intellectually as knowledge. But, does not feeling help modify thought? And when we do something physical, does that not have an effect upon us (the concept of muscle memory comes to mind at this point)?
The Corinthian passage under consideration says…
1 Corinthians 13 ( World English Bible )
1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
3 If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;
6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
I have always been amazed at how God teaches us; HE begins at the point where we are and develops us accordingly. Children (and adults for that matter) learn at different rates and are more amenable to different methods, according to the gifts God has given them. I understand this because I am a father and each of my children learned differently. One of them obviously was an intellectual and more responsive to schooling. Another learned best from doing and the last one was a very adept social creature. All my children; each different, but none better than the other.
Love isn’t about accomplishment or greatness, it is about being the very best you can be with the help of God. God is love (1 John 4:8b) and we are to be like HIM. He has shown us how to love by the example of Jesus and the teachings of the Bible. Take some time and reflect upon what the above passage means to you now and what it can teach you about life. This will be time well spent and you will be glad you did.