Woman To Another.com - Where Women Meet » love

Pick Them Up Part 2 of 2

admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:00:40 +0000

I read a true story about a pastor that had swapped his moral authority for an adulterous relationship. The fellow pastors in that city wrote a letter to the church saying “We love you; we are praying for you. We don’t want to profit from your calamity. We don’t want to increase our congregations at your expense. Please stay together and believe God will bring good out of this” These people could have sat back and waited to profit if the church went under. But instead, they did the Godly thing and beared the burden by encouraging the other church and praying for them.

When a fellow believer has fallen into sin, this is one of the times that they need us the most. We are to rally around them in prayer and ministry. Doing anything opposite of this is like turning your back on a friend. Even if you and that person are not exactly “friends” you shouldn’t take a prideful and self righteous attitude like you could never do what they have done (Romans 3:23). I remember years ago, a girl that attended the same church as I did got pregnant. She and I had fallen out a few years prior to that and were no longer friends. When I heard that she had gotten pregnant, I was saddened. We were 16 at the time. Laughing at her bad situation wouldn’t have been right.

Haven’t you noticed that when a well known person is found in a bad situation, the first thing the world does is gossip about it? Suddenly, every tabloid, news and talk show wants to to a “story” on it. Well, when we as Christians gossip and seek to profit from a fellow believer’s calamity, we are not conducting ourselves much differently. If you have found that you are guilty of this, repent and ask God to forgive you. Take it a little further and ask the person you committed this offense against to forgive you as well. Let’s walk in every aspect of love. Let’s be one that reconciles and restores.

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Pick Them Up Part 2 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Pick Them Up Part 1 of 2

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:00:22 +0000

Something that saddens me is the behavior of the church when a fellow believer falls into sin. The conversation usually begins like this, “Girl, did you hear about so and so? Well since that happened, I can get that position.” This is wrong right from the beginning. Not only is gossiping being done here, love is not being shown. Love? Yes, love. Part of walking in love is to bear one another’s burdens. We are not to seek benefit from another’s demise.

In Obadiah, God is dealing with the Edomites for taking on a “spectator status” when their brothers were being destroyed. Obadiah 3 says “The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,You who live in the clefts of the rock, In the loftiness of your dwelling place, Who say in your heart,Who will bring me down to earth? ” In their pride, they sat back and watched, eying the spoils even handing over some Judeans that were tying to flee to the Babylonians. Verse 11 says “On the day that you stood aloof,
On the day that strangers carried off his wealth, And foreigners entered his gate And cast lots for Jerusalem–You too were as one of them. ” In verse 15, God tells Edom that what they have done will be done to them.

We can learn something else from this situation. God judges the conduct of the spectators just as He judges the oppressors. Jesus said that He came to give life and give it more abundantly. To be like Christ means to be like Him in every way. We are suppose to be people of reconciliation and restoration.

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Pick Them Up Part 1 of 2 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

It’s All About Love pt 5 of 5

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:25 +0000

1 Corinthians 13:7 begins by saying that love bears all things. In other words, love bears the burdens of others. When we hear of someone falling into sin, we don’t take the attitude that we are better because we didn’t fall into that particular sin. Galatians 6:1 says “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.” We are the bring correction bearing in mind that we are just a susceptible to sin as they are. We also don’t gossip about it. Love covers sins (see Proverbs 10:12 and 17:9).

1 Corinthians 13:7 says that love believes, hope and endures all things. I believe that love has faith. Hebrews 11:1 gives the definition for faith. “Now faith is the substance for things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We believe that God will deliver whatever it is we are have faith in. When we are walking in love, if we are believing for a loved one to get saved, we endure and continue to pray never giving up, if we have faith that God will fix our marriage, we continue to endure, no matter how hard it gets. This also goes back to being long-suffering.

When we look at all of the aspects that make up love, we can see why without it, we are nothing. We know by Galatians 5:22 that love is a fruit of the spirit. The only way to produce this fruit is through Christ. No matter what spiritual gifts we possess, if there is no love, it is fruitless. I have learned that our prayer life and our love walk go hand in hand. If our prayers aren’t being answered, chances are, our love walk is not 100%. My sister, I pray that you will continue to walk in love. If there are areas that need to be strengthened, study God’s word on love and pray that God will strengthens you in the areas that need the be strengthened.

“And now abide faith, hope, love these three; but the greatest of these is love” ~1 Corinthians 13:13

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It’s All About Love pt 5 of 5 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

It’s All About Love pt 4 of 5

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:00:24 +0000

1 Corinthians 13:6 says that love doesn’t rejoice in iniquity. When we encounter believers that know the truth but choose to behave otherwise (known today as “riding the fence”), we are not to condone that behavior or make excuses for them. Roman 1:32 says that those that approve of that type of behavior deserves the same punishment as those that are doing the wrong. It’s like being an accessory to a crime. The driver of the get away car is just as guilty as the person that robbed the bank. You may say “I don’t agree with what you are doing, but we can still hang out” Did you know that continuing in fellowship with someone like that is not any better? 1 Corinthians 5:11 says to not even eat with believers that “ride the fence”.

1 Corinthians 13:6 says that love rejoices in truth. The first thing I thought about when I read this is the “no snitching policy” that exists in the streets. When we know someone did wrong and the police asks us about it we are to speak up and tell what happened. If your safety is a concern, there are ways to confidentially give the necessary information. As Christians we should know to depend on God for our safety and security. What makes you think that God won’t protect you when you are doing what is right? Saying we don’t know anything is like covering for the ones that did wrong. Covering up for the wrongdoing of others is not rejoicing in truth. In fact, it is the opposite. As mentioned above, this makes us just as guilty as the person that was in the wrong. Another way to rejoice in truth is to rejoice when we hear of others that live upright and Godly.

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It’s All About Love pt 4 of 5 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

It’s All About Love pt 3 of 5

admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:00:21 +0000

Today, I would like to look at 1 Corinthians 13:5. This verse tells us how love behaves itself. Some of the aspects of love tell us what we should do. But many tell us how we should act. 1 Corinthians 13:5 begins by saying that love “does not behave rudely”. We have all heard the saying “mind your manners” We are pretty familiar with the obvious things that are rude; for instance, not saying please, excuse me, and thank you. There are other things that classify as being rude as well. Proverbs 11:22 says “As a ring of gold in a swines snout, So is a lovely woman that lacks discretion” Examples can be found in the loud ghetto acting women we see in public. We have all encountered them if we were not once one ourselves. They have no regard for others around them as they laugh and talk really loud on their phones or use bad language. You can be the prettiest woman in the room, but without discretion, you are like a pig pig wearing a gold ring. You look good on the outside, but you are not pretty on the inside.

Next, 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that love does not seek it’s own. In other words, love is not selfish. In today’s world, selfishness seems to be all around us. It seems that everyone wants to excel in one area or another and will do it by any means necessary. Even if it is at the expense of someone else. When we walk in love, we don’t behave this way. Philippians 2:3 tells us to not do things out of selfish ambition. There is nothing wrong with striving to succeed. The way that success is obtained is what is important. Philippians 2:4 follows by saying “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” We are to look out for one another. In a post I recently wrote titled “Supporting The Ministry”, I talked about how I noticed that during the New Testament times, the early Christians took care of each other. If someone had a need, they would see to it that the need was taken care of. In walking in love, we are to not just care about our own needs. We are to be concerned with the needs of others as well.

The third behavior given to us in 1 Corinthians 13:5 is not being provoked. Being provoked is the same as being short tempered. This means make you upset at the drop of a dime. Did you know that not being provoked goes hand in hand with long-suffering? When we are long-suffering, we don’t allow anger to come in so quickly. Although being angry is a natural emotion, what we do with it is what often gets us into trouble. Ephesians 4:26-27 says “ Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your wrath nor give place to the devil” One way we can sin is with our mouths. We allow our emotions to control what we say and we end up saying hurtful things. Colossians 3:8 tells us to avoid this type of behavior. Not letting the sun go down on our wrath means that we are to forgive someone when they offend us and not hold a grudge. 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that love thinks no evil or keeps an account of evil. Not letting the go down on our wrath means we have 1 day to get over it. After that, we shouldn’t bring it up anymore. When we forgive someone, we let it go. Not giving place to the devil means we take it up with God, not our neighbors, family, co-workers etc. When we give our hurts to God and truly let Him deal with the issues, there is no place for the devil. We have given that place to God.

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It’s All About Love pt 3 of 5 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

It’s All About Love pt 2 of 5

admin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:00 +0000

The second aspect of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4 is kindness. Ephesians 4:32 tells us how to be kind. It says, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you” Being kind doesn’t have to be an outrageous act either. It can be something as small as letting someone in front of you in traffic. When we are kind to one another, we are not hard-hearted. It is simply treating others how we would want to be treated.

1 Corinthians 13:4 says that love is not envious. Being envious can also be defined as being covetous. One of the ten commandment is to not covet. Coveting is to strongly want something that someone else has. When we are envious or when we covet, it shows that we are not content with ourselves and/or what we have. If we were thankful for what we had, then we wouldn’t strongly want what someone else has.

The final part of 1 Corinthians 13:4 says, “Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up” This tells us that an aspect of love is not conceit or arrogance. In Matthew 23:4-8, one thing that Jesus mentioned when He brought correction to the pharisees was that they paraded themselves around and loved to receive recognition. Matthew 23:5 says “But all of their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their garments.” Phylacteries are small leather boxes of scriptures that some Jews would tie to their foreheads or to their left arms. They are also called frontlets. The things they were doing were not to glorify God. It was to glorify themselves. We must be careful not to do things to glorify ourselves. Everything we do must be to give God the glory and recognition.

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It’s All About Love pt 2 of 5 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

It’s All About Love pt 1 of 5

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:00:36 +0000

This week, I would like to post a “series” on love. Love is a very important aspect of our Christian walk. Out of everything we do for God, out of all of our spiritual gifts, love is the greatest of all. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 tells us that no matter that we are able to do, if we don’t have love, it is nothing. We can speak in tongues, have faith that will move a mountain, and give everything we have to feed the poor. But, without love, our tongues sound like clanging cymbals, our faith is nothing and our charitable deeds aren’t profitable.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives us all of the things that make up love. The first aspect of love is long-suffering. The word in itself is pretty self explanatory. Long-suffering is bearing with others and sticking it out. Proverbs 10:12 says “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.” When someone wrongs us, we are long-suffering towards them by forgiving them and not holding a grudge or blabbing about it to all of our friends. Holding a grudge against someone will only hurt us in the long run. Jesus said in Matthew 18:21-22 that we should forgive one another no matter how many times we are offended. He also tells us in Matthew 6:14-15 that if we don’t forgive each other, God will not forgive us for our wrong.

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It’s All About Love pt 1 of 5 is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Love is an Action

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:00:41 +0000

The saying “Action speaks louder than words” is very true. In fact, 1 John 3:18 instructs us to show our love through actions and deeds and not just with words. My husband often says that love is an action. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives us a complete description of what love is and what is required for us to walk in love: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things.” While studying this scripture yesterday, I noticed that all of the words mentioned are action words. These are things that we should do to walk in love.

When we talk about walking in love, we often talk about it in respect to how we interact with one another. However, we should also check out our love walk with God as well. We say we love God but do we show Him our love? Ezekiel 33:31 says “And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain.” It is easy to whoop, holler and say Amen when the message is being preached. But, when we leave the church are, we really showing God our love for Him? How are we showing our love for God?

Jesus is our blueprint. One thing I notice when reading about Him, is He healed people and provided for them out of love. In other words, He showed His love through His actions. For example: He showed long-suffering when the pharisees continually questioned Him and tried to catch Him with His words. He showed patience and explained the parables when the disciples didn’t understand. He wasn’t puffed up, but gave all the glory to God. The list goes on and on. Not to mention, He gave His life for us. I think that was the ultimate display of love.

My sister, it is important that we show love through our actions. Actions truly do speak louder than words. God is love and He has set the example for us to follow. He shows His love for us every single day. Let’s show our love as well.

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Love is an Action is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Bearing Each Others’ Burdens

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 12:00:26 +0000

We all at one time or another have heard about a fellow sister in Christ that has fallen into temptation. Unfortunate circumstances such as these require that we as sisters rally around the fallen in prayer to uplift them, and help them to get back on track. The temptation to gossip and go on about it may be present. But, Galatians 6:1-5 instructs us to do otherwise.

Verse 1 tells us to address these matters in a certain manner. The amplified bible says to address them without superiority, with gentleness while keeping ourselves in check so we will not fall into the same sin. Approaching such issues without superiority means to address the matter humbly. Not as if you are better because you were not in error in that area. Romans 3:23 is a reminder to us all that we all have sinned and fell short of God’s glory. So, no one is better than anyone else.

Jesus gave us a wonderful example of not approaching a situation like this with superiority. In John 8:3-7 there were Pharisees that brought a woman to Jesus that had been caught in adultery. The Pharisees wanted to stone the woman but Jesus told them who ever of them that had never sinned, they could throw the first stone. Verse 9 says they were convicted by there own hearts. So, I’m sure there was a moment of silence before they each walked away one by one.

By causing the people to think about their own sins, Jesus also illustrated Galatians 6:4: “But let every person carefully scrutinize and examine and test his own conduct and his own work. He can then have the personal satisfaction and joy of doing something commendable [in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor.” When those that were standing around began to evaluate their own lives, they were carefully scrutinizing themselves as the scripture says. The end of Galatians 6:4 reminds us that finding that we have not commit the same sin as our fellow sister, doesn’t mean that we have liberty to brag about it.

1 Corinthians 13:4-6 gives us a very detailed description of what love is. Part of that description is that love is not arrogant or inflated with pride. It is also not self seeking. We should not use someones wrong doing to our advantage or to make us look good. Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). So, in walking in love, we are not bad mouthing and blabbing the faults of our sister. 1 Corinthians 8:1 says that love edifies. We are to cover her in prayer letting her know in love that she has sinned (if she doesn’t know).

Part of our duty as Christians is to take care of each other. When one falls, we are to pick them up and help dust them off. We should all remember that no one is better than anyone else because we all have sinned.

“Brethren, if any of you err from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he who converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” ~James 5:19-20~

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Bearing Each Others’ Burdens is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com

Walking in Love

admin — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 12:00:19 +0000

Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31 that greatest commandments were to love the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength and to love each other as we love ourselves. These are the greatest commandments because when we love the Lord and each other as we are commanded, all of the other 8 commandments will follow. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives us a description of what love is: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

If we are not walking in love, we are not of God because God is love. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2 tells us that out of everything we do, if there is no love, it is pointless. Walking in love is not just loving our neighbors or our friends. Jesus instructed us in Luke 6:27-35 to love our enemies as well. When someone does us wrong, we should continue to love them. Easier said than done right? Wrong, with God ALL things are possible. Since God is love, we can rely on Him to help us to love those that do us wrong. I like the way Jesus explained it in this scripture. Verses 33-34 says “And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.” How much different are we from the world if we can only love those that love us? The world tells us that we should repay evil with evil. But, God said that vengeance is His (Deuteronomy 32:35). Besides, if someone does us wrong why would we want to sin just to seek revenge? The consequences are then put on us.

Have you ever noticed that when someone is trying to be rude when you are polite, it seems to irritate that person more? Proverbs 25:21-22 says that you are heaping hot coals on their head. It also says that God will reward you for it. Good always will overcome evil. I can remember many times when I worked in retail, I would have rude customers in the store. They would be so rude at first but I would continue to give them good customer service and by the time they left the store, their attitude would seem to have vanished. I would continue to give customer service not because it was my job as an associate but my job as a Christian. Jesus told us in John 13:34-35 that when we love others as He loves us, the world will know that we are His disciples.

My sister, I know it is not easy to love when it is not given in return. But since love is a fruit of the spirit, the only way to accomplish this is through God. Why not ask God to help you to walk in love?

After all…God is Love.

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Walking in Love is a post from: Mrs. BliSs for WomantoAnother.com