Con’t in 1Cor.13:5, Love Seeketh not her own….” The word for “seek” in its original language illustrates busyness, preoccupation or a self absorbed way of living. The greek word for “seek” is (zeteo) and is defined as: “To chase after diligently, to pursue with passion or run after some particular thing.” The message Paul is conveying is one of simplicity: We are not to chase after and pursue our own endeavors, nor should we be so entangled in our own life affairs that we have no time for others. Love Is not desirous of its own spiritual welfare, but seeks the welfare of others. Love is never satisfied but in the welfare, comfort, and salvation of others. The subtle and yet extremely logical work of our adversary is one of simplicity as well. A slow infiltration of the will and paradigm that we know as: “The American Dream.” The objective: “build our own lives, endeavor for our own pleasures and labor for our own satisfaction.” The picture is far from the Biblical image of: “Greater love hath no man than to lay his life down for another,” or “esteem others higher than yourself.” Certainly we are not called to be stoics or ascetics, withdrawing from life, pleasure and enjoyments. What the Apostle here is stressing is balance and Godly directives in our concern and welfare of others. In 1993, at the Ky. State Reformatory in LaGrange, myself along with 4 other men were the first ever to be trained and certified as “hospice caregivers” behind the walls. I recall how proud I was when the featured story made the front page of the Louisville Metro. However, “Love seeking NOT her own” was soon to begin whittling away at the very core of my “self centered” life even in prison. Learning to allow someone else the floor, or center stage” was not easy for me. It was the “life lesson” I needed however. It’s been said of old: “weve been given two ears and one mouth for a reason, that we speak half as much as we listen.” So true! As I began to realize what it meant to “validate” another, or to esteem their “soon to pass” lives as “higher than mine I began to grow in Christ. I began to learn what Paul meant when he said: love does not get so entangled in its own life’s affairs that it has no time for others, or preference above self. I began this lesson on the first day I walked into my assigned patients room in August of “93. That same lesson has been placed before me in literally thousands of ways since. It will be placed before me today and it will be placed before you as well. I hope I pass today……..
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 10:52:45 +0000
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