Short
We’re not promised tomorrow. Life is short. I make it a
point each day to tell my fiancé Becky that I love her. The first day we
met she told me I mattered to her and she loved me. This week I was
relaying this story to her. Christian singer Sandi Patty had a relative
who was slowly dying and she was learning to cherish every moment with him, and
she taught herself to say to him each day. “I love you, today.”
Emphasis being on the word today because we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.
I’m 49 and my fiancé is 45 we’re getting married late in life and that
timeframe is not lost on us. We try to make the most of our time
together. I’m approaching my upcoming wedding with a certain attitude,
and I’ll do my best to explain it. Growing up my dad introduced me to the
music of Don Francisco. He sang a song about marriage that says, “Love is
not a feeling it’s an act of your will.” Each day you must choose to love
the person you’re married to. Too many people end a relationship because
they no longer feel like they’re in love. Had it happen to me. I
know going into this that each day I must choose my spouse. We can have
good and bad days, but I have to choose her regardless of my feelings. DC
Talk said it best in their song “luv is a verb.”
“Pulling out my big black book
‘Cause when I need a word defined, that’s where I look
So, I moved to the l’s quick, fast in a hurry
Threw on my specs thought my vision was blurry
I looked again but to my dismay
It was black and white with no room for gray
You see a big V, stood beyond my word
And Yo, that’s when it hit me, that love is a verb.”
WWE general manager Adam Pearce does videos online and he always ends
them with this sentence that we all need to remember. “Love somebody
today.” You don’t know what kind of struggle the people around you are
dealing with, but God calls us to love. I’ve said before that a lot of
the friends I have are because they took the time to be nice to me and I
remember that.
Romans 12:18 is a verse I try to live my life by. I don’t
always get it right, but I try.
“Do all that you can to live at peace with everyone.”
We don’t know who our life is affecting but we need to love people
and treat them as better than ourselves. I said it in church one
Wednesday night because it’s true. “We talk a lot of smack for people who
almost fall over putting on underwear.” Don’t think so highly of yourself.
Treat people with love and kindness wherever you go. If you need a
reason why I’m about to give it to you in two verses.
Galatians 6:9-10
“So, let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the
right time we will reap a blessing if we do not give up. Therefore,
whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone, especially to
those in the family of faith.”
This past week Becky told me something and it shook me. I don’t
blog like I used to. Years back I placed a lot of stress on myself to
have something to say every week when this was an online blog. I got
criticized by people after my divorce and had to heal, it kept me from saying
anything. When it was sent as an email to people it started being
returned with no explanation. I blog on rare occasions now. But one
of Becky’s friends told her to tell me, “He hasn’t done a video in a while.”
I honestly thought no one was paying attention when I did them.
What I often say is that if just one person is drawn closer to God by
something I have said then I have accomplished what I set out to do. I
had to stop and pray and tell God if I was going to do this again, he would
have to provide something to say because I didn’t have it. I’m no one
special I share what God lays on my heart. What happens after that is
completely up to God. I pray before I post stuff that God would use it to
glorify himself. This is not about me and if that’s what you focus on
that’s not the point I’m trying to push you back to the cross of Christ.
I simply show up and share. I’m nobody special.
Meant to be by Steven Curtis Chapman
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