Love....do you have it?

Today I am thankful that God controls my life, He knows my future, He knows what is around the bend that I can not see. Why worry about the unknown? Worry is letting God know you are not quite ready to trust Him (just my opinion). As I ponder that and drink my peppermint mocha flavored coffee I am wondering what to write again and, Love pops into my mind. There are different kinds of love but, one particular type jumps up and waves its letters and yells PICK ME!!!! So I am. My daughter has been having a hard time at school. There is the new girl who asked her to be friends and K really does not want to. I told her that God wants us to love everyone even if we do not want to. Philia Love~is the kind of love which makes us wish to support others in their good or bad (yes I know I said bad) times. My understanding is this is friendship love or brotherly love.Ok ok I know I said 1 but, another love pops also and I can not resist it, I have to talk about it too. Agape Love~ is unconditional love, I believe this is the love we should strive to have for others because God loves us unconditionally but, I understand it can be hard to achieve this kind of love, especially with so much hate in the world today (again just my opinion). So what kind of love do I teach K and my son H to have? Well I am thinking both should be taught but, they will be the ones to choose. For now I think I will teach the Philia Love or (my word for it) Friendship Love. In 1 John 4: 7-8 it says Beloved, let us love on another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (NKJ) So if God is love, then we must have love for others it seems clear to me, in order to truly be in God we must love and sometimes that is just so hard to do.....sinner nature rearing its (dare I say ugly?) head. It is a commandment though in John 13: 34-35 it says A new COMMANDMENT I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (NKJ) As a parent it is my job to teach my kids what they need to know with the help of God and I believe this is an important lesson to learn. All of the hate and violence in the world that surrounds us tends to overrule any love out there. I have to look at myself and ask Do I love? How can I teach my kids to love if I do not love myself? I issue a love challenge to you go out into your world (that is where you live or work) and find someone to love whether it is Agape or Philia your choice.. Love is a choice no one can force us to love, even in our marriages or in our families we have to choose to love even when we do not feel it. So I must look at myself and fix in me the way I love so I can teach my kids to love, as for K we will keep praying for the new girl and hopefully prayerfully achieve love for her too.

That's my thought for the day,

Crazy for Christmas