Each day during the month of March we will be sharing a devotional from a booklet written by Steve Love. Steve is a member of Canton First and a Traumatic Brain Injury survivor. If you would like a complete PDF of this devotional, it can be downloaded here.
Day 26
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (New International Version)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails
The Love Chapter is how we refer to 1 Corinthians 13. Paul gives us a beautiful insight to the understanding what love is. Hollywood version of love is distorted. The problem we have today is too many people’s idea of love is formed by what they have seen on TV and in the movies. To see a wonderful example of a real deep love, we just need to look at the actions our family/caregivers.
“Love is patient, love is kind.” Our family/caregivers if they did not process patient before we had a brain injury, have patients now. I stretch my wife patients almost on a daily basis. I know it is not easy on her to see me struggle with even the simple task. Memory problems alone try the patient of our family/caregivers. Having patients helps one to be kind.
“It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” Pride led to many of our downfall in life. I do not want your help; I can do it myself. How many times have we said that, or head said to us? It is not an ego boosting event being in a hospital, nursing home, or even home care when as an adult you are force to accept the reality of not being able to the simple task for yourself. 50 years old and I was forced to have to be treated as a newborn baby. You had to be spoon feed, given baths, I even for a time I had to wear dippers and have them change by an aid. Family/caregivers must not pride stop them from doing what is right for them, the family, and the person with a brain injury.
“It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” It is only when we allow our human nature to manifest itself in our heart/mind we become rude, self-seeking, and angry. We have no memory problems remembering the wrong someone did to us. We must like have forgotten what was done to us, what was said to us, but we still remember the emotions it steered within our heart/mind/soul. With out loves infuses on us we are filled with the desire to hurt and to get even for the wrongs we believe where done to us.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” Over the years I have heard too many saying, “they got just what they desire.” I have seen people even in the church take great joy when someone they envy have some great reveres of their well being. It is not very Christian of them to have those kinds of feelings in their heart/mind. When we allow God’s love to fill our heart/mind it gives us the ability to love everyone. When we have God’s love in our heart/mind we will not delight in our misfortunes. We will rejoice with them for every great thing that comes into their lives.
“It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Paul now tells us what God’s love which we process in our heart/mind will do for us. Our families/caregivers process them in great qualities. The love we process will help us to protect those we love and those who come into our spare of influences. It will give us the ability to trust. We have hope. I have seen it in the lives of the person and their family/caregiver the hope that something will happen to make their ability to cope with live with a brain injury a little better. That is a wonderful gift God gives us and it helps us to persevere our family, home and the one who has suffered a brain injury.
Pray and thank God for His great and wonderful love He has place within our heart/mind.
Pray and thank God for the gift of life He has given to us indivisibly and as a family.
Pray and ask God to fill our heart/mind with His love and with the love we process make a different in someone else’s life today.