Living in the Spirit
November 30, 2018
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you. And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may he so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. –1 Thessalonians 3:11-13
How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)
By Elizabeth Barrett Browning
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
How do we love one another? Browning’s poem never uses the word joy, but it seems to be laced through every phrase she wrote. Loving results in joy, in bad times and in good, when another’s mere presence nurtures our souls. The Greeks describe three types of love, sibling love, erotic love, and Godly love. All are a part of God’s great plan for us. We sometimes forget that love is a verb, an action word. Love requires us to invest part of ourselves in the wellbeing of others. I think joy results when Godly love intersects with all relationships. Godly love is particularly fundamental when we welcome the strangers in our midst.
Prayer: Lord, empower us to love as Jesus loved. Amen.