"chari-TEA"

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13:13, KJV)

Chari-TEA! It's all about love. The Greek for charity is "agape" translated as unconditional love. Here in these verses from 1 Corinthians 13, one clearly gets the idea that love is NOT about self.

"Self" often acts for its own profit, and seeks its own with a "puffed up" ego. According to this chapter, charity does none of these. Longsuffering and kindness are factors of this love. Charity bears all things with hope and endurance.

Without love, mankind is nothing.

It's a covenant love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God; the term necessarily extends to the love of one’s fellow man.

Dr. Constable dubs the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians as the supremacy of love. "Love is the most fundamental and prominent of these graces. The love in view is God's love, that He has placed in the believer by the indwelling Spirit, that should overflow to God and others." (p. 153)
An over flow of my morning tea opened my eyes to the reality of a cuppa chari-TEA. Overflowing of love is a good thing.

Disclaimer, I added a little tea to the saucer so that you could see it & get the idea.
Not the first time such a spill has taken place---but now it has meaning.

Sipping a cuppa chari-TEA allows love for God and others to spill over into life, just as the saucer for my morning brew caught the overflow and drips from my cup. That's what our charity needs to do......splash all over others and cover them with love.

Nif-TEA-Gif-TEA

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8, ETV)

So many advertisements this week are for perfect "love" gifts. Yet, what most folks really want is love itself. Those acts of love that express that deep feeling. Sometimes it's easier to buy a gift than to pass on love.

Actually, apart from God, the author of love, we can't do it----even on this love-proclaimed day, our actions speak louder than those Hallmark sentiments and bouquets of red roses. Share the love. Give of yourself. Pass it on.

 "Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay, love isn't love 'til you give it away," came to mind when I saw this tea store sign but "integri-TEA" had me google it. Two sources were given. I choose the older one. (Oscar Hammerstein II)

Heart shaped little cakes were baked in a pan given to me by Julie C.
I "passed on" to the Parlows--even the dog got one, by his own devices.
Sorry Tim, Edgar beat you to it!

L ……is for LOVE!

12/28/09 LOVE.....................

One of the hardest of all the attributes of God for me to wrap my brain around is love---unconditional love. I know of His sacrifice and I know scripture tells of the breadth and depth of His love but it’s still hard to comprehend, on a personal level, because I know me. I know that the one who writes this---a blog that sometimes inspire others---spent the day asking forgiveness for impure thoughts arising from impatience, unfulfilled expectations and anger. I wore myself out but I kept at it. Believe me, it was work! I thanked the Lord that He loved me, through the grace of His Son, but…….I didn’t “feel” that “love belief” in my core---it felt more like a mantra. I did repeat it over and over but did I believe it? I had to confess my unbelief. “ …I believe, Lord; help thou my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)

The good news is that this unconditional love, which He offers, does not change whether I “feel” worthy of it or not. Even on days like today when my esteem is dragging, His love is constant.
No power on earth or heaven can separate us (even Me) from God's love. Not our (my) sin, not any authority, not any spiritual force. God's love is unshakable and can always be relied upon. That’s Romans 8:38-39 in a nutshell but………….the first 4 words say, “For I am convinced”-----

To convince myself of His love I plan to linger on this passage today----Romans 8:38-39

38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

His love is there whether I “feel” worthy of it or not.alpha