In His Likeness w/ AntTBri

“But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravangantly. And the best of the three is love”. (1 Corinthians 13:13 MSG)

Life and love doesn’t  always manifest clear.  It seems there are intense moments of uncertainty.   Times when the believer lives and loves not seeing or knowing in full.  During these times we must be intentional about negotiating the fog and navigating life and love in a mist.   Uncertainty is part of the process, it is our time of practice and it makes us become proactive in both  our living and loving.  We learn to plan for the contingences, challenges and conviction of pursuing Godly love . During those times/areas of life and love when we see and know in part but fail to fully understand what is needed to successfully navigate life and love despite our maturation,  mindset and matriculation we must rely soley on the word of God. 

Paul admonished the church at Corinth to live and love until the Complete cancels the incomplete. The epistle suggest that the clarity of life and love will come, culminate and cosign heaven’s reality. When the work of Christ is finished/ accomplished here on earth as it is in heaven the love of God will be fully revealed, realized and rewarded. That’s good news for those abiding in faith, hope and charity as they live and love. 

Up and coming is the manifestation of the complete finished work of Jesus Christ.  He has already conquered in His flesh what we could and cannot in our flesh without Him. The chapter suggest a many Godly things can be accomplished in the flesh (speaking in tongues, prophesying, understanding, faith, giving etc.) without love. What??? Wow, that’s staggering and sobering for those of us hell bent/bound on operating in the works of life and love. Sometimes we are so focussed on what we do that we loose conciousness of why we do.  We live and we love for the completion of love. Notice however, that all these things done without the completion of love profit us nothing. Life and love from this advantage is reduced to nothing, noise and nuance even when you and I are effective in the work.  Pause, wait for it…yes life and love is a process, it must become our practice and it requires that you and I are proactive.

By examing what it is not we come to see cleary what it is. This knowing brings about the perfection of God’s love for us, in us, working through us.  This is how we abide, dwell, endure, remain and last living and loving. We live and we love in process. We practice living and loving proactively. Realizing there will be moments or times when were are tried, tested, tempted and tired of combating the contradictions of our humanity.  When we may want to live and love (act out) of our incompleteness. Times when everything the bible declares love is not seems like a viable option because the process of completion proves much too long. Verse 7 (ASV) says love beareth all things, endureth all things and verse 8 tells us that love never fails.  It maybe coincidental,  but it’s worth noting the number 7 means completion.  It’s interesting that the text suggest that after negotiating verses 4-6 what love is not Paul would then speak to what love does. After navigating bouts of suffering, envy, pride, disrespect, narcissism, anger, grudges, and evil one would be able to bear and endure all things.  Sounds like growth doesn’t it?  Sounds like a culmination of sorts, like grown up love. It is the complete finished work of Jesus  Christ manifesting. We live and we love for the number 8…for the new beginning…for the full circle… to display and demonstrate the perfection of God’s love that never fails.

I don’t know where you are in process. Whether you’re in the beginning stages of trusting in God steadily, or in the middle stages living and loving hoping unswervingly or if you are in the final stage of completion…when you are able to do and be the greater of the three and Love extravagantly.  But my prayer for us is that after negotiating and navigating the process, the practice and proactive living and loving in a fog/mist we will experience and express the completion of God’s perfected love in clarity.  May that be the greatest attainment, acquisition and aim of abiding in love~AntTBri