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Love as a Verb
Have you ever had something really great or really terrible happen and not been able to share it with anyone? I think one of the most emotional moments in my life was the birth of our third child. Theresa and I went through 27 hours of labor together and our son's heart rate nearly stopped with every contraction. The final hours were filled with tension and we gave our son back to God before he was born. Doctors stood ready to do emergency surgery as we prayed, sweated, and hoped.
Hours later, my newborn son was placed in my arms, and I held him in awe and joy and disbelief. Then I got on my knees on that linoleum floor and cried and thanked God.
But there was no one there to share it with. Theresa was exhausted and had been taken to recover in her room. I was overwhelmed with emotion and joy and relief, but alone... all alone. Then an Elder of my church showed up. He came and gave me the biggest bear hug, and said, "Come on and tell me all about it." We went to a greasy spoon and I must have talked for two straight hours and he just listened. He loved me. He entered into my pain as I recounted my fears and struggles, and then shared in my joy.
Isn't that what happiness is all about in relationships? Thinking of others, entering into their lives and sharing. Aren't your best memories and happiest moments times like I've just described?
Of course, thinking of and feeling for others is only the beginning. The focal point of the entire command is action: Love as brothers. Be devoted in brotherly love.
We are to do for others what we would do for a close member of our own family. Let me paint a brief hypothetical word picture. Suppose my sister, who lives in Kentucky, called me from the San Francisco airport in the middle of the night, and said, "Hey Chip, I'm really sorry, I know it's 2:30 in the morning, but I have to be at a nursing convention at 9:00, and I really need to talk to you. I hope you aren't mad!"
I would say, "Mad? I'll pick you up for breakfast." Now, don't get me wrong, I don't really like to get up at 2:30 in the morning and drive to San Francisco, but she's my sister. I love her. You see, right thinking and emotional engagement is important, but without "action," it's nothing! You see, the promise given in I Peter isn't about some kind of rearrangement of our mental categories in order to obtain an emotional lift. It's a prescription for a kind of living that brings our whole lives under the blessedness of God's hand upon our lives.
Do you want to be happy? Then think of others, feel deeply, and then act. Love people, be a blesser, do whatever would build up the life of another person. Then you will see an amazing thing start to happen - you'll be happy, even if your circumstances aren't the best. In fact, the people to whom Peter wrote this passage were being slandered, they were getting unjust treatment as slaves, and some of their marriages were falling apart. Peter wanted them to understand that thinking of others, feeling deeply for them and acting to meet their needs would result in a byproduct of happiness that would overwhelm their lives.
Many times when I'm in difficult circumstances, instead of being other-centered, I tend to get focused on me - my world, my fears, my calendar, my pain, and my problems. It's natural to do so... but this introspection suffocates the happiness in my heart. The fact is, I've learned that turning my focus on others can actually improve my circumstances.
How about you? Why not do a good deed for at least one person, seven days in a row beginning today, and see what God does to increase the "happiness quotient" in your heart?
Excerpted from the booklet, Rediscovering the Lost Art of Being Happy, by Chip Ingram. Used with permission. Copyright 1999, by Chip Ingram. All rights reserved.
About the author: Chip Ingram is President of Walk Thru the Bible in Atlanta, GA, and Teaching Pastor of Living on the Edge, a national radio ministry.
Have you ever had something really great or really terrible happen and not been able to share it with anyone? I think one of the most emotional moments in my life was the birth of our third child. Theresa and I went through 27 hours of labor together and our son's heart rate nearly stopped with every contraction. The final hours were filled with tension and we gave our son back to God before he was born. Doctors stood ready to do emergency surgery as we prayed, sweated, and hoped.
Hours later, my newborn son was placed in my arms, and I held him in awe and joy and disbelief. Then I got on my knees on that linoleum floor and cried and thanked God.
But there was no one there to share it with. Theresa was exhausted and had been taken to recover in her room. I was overwhelmed with emotion and joy and relief, but alone... all alone. Then an Elder of my church showed up. He came and gave me the biggest bear hug, and said, "Come on and tell me all about it." We went to a greasy spoon and I must have talked for two straight hours and he just listened. He loved me. He entered into my pain as I recounted my fears and struggles, and then shared in my joy.
Isn't that what happiness is all about in relationships? Thinking of others, entering into their lives and sharing. Aren't your best memories and happiest moments times like I've just described?
Of course, thinking of and feeling for others is only the beginning. The focal point of the entire command is action: Love as brothers. Be devoted in brotherly love.
We are to do for others what we would do for a close member of our own family. Let me paint a brief hypothetical word picture. Suppose my sister, who lives in Kentucky, called me from the San Francisco airport in the middle of the night, and said, "Hey Chip, I'm really sorry, I know it's 2:30 in the morning, but I have to be at a nursing convention at 9:00, and I really need to talk to you. I hope you aren't mad!"
I would say, "Mad? I'll pick you up for breakfast." Now, don't get me wrong, I don't really like to get up at 2:30 in the morning and drive to San Francisco, but she's my sister. I love her. You see, right thinking and emotional engagement is important, but without "action," it's nothing! You see, the promise given in I Peter isn't about some kind of rearrangement of our mental categories in order to obtain an emotional lift. It's a prescription for a kind of living that brings our whole lives under the blessedness of God's hand upon our lives.
Do you want to be happy? Then think of others, feel deeply, and then act. Love people, be a blesser, do whatever would build up the life of another person. Then you will see an amazing thing start to happen - you'll be happy, even if your circumstances aren't the best. In fact, the people to whom Peter wrote this passage were being slandered, they were getting unjust treatment as slaves, and some of their marriages were falling apart. Peter wanted them to understand that thinking of others, feeling deeply for them and acting to meet their needs would result in a byproduct of happiness that would overwhelm their lives.
Many times when I'm in difficult circumstances, instead of being other-centered, I tend to get focused on me - my world, my fears, my calendar, my pain, and my problems. It's natural to do so... but this introspection suffocates the happiness in my heart. The fact is, I've learned that turning my focus on others can actually improve my circumstances.
How about you? Why not do a good deed for at least one person, seven days in a row beginning today, and see what God does to increase the "happiness quotient" in your heart?
Excerpted from the booklet, Rediscovering the Lost Art of Being Happy, by Chip Ingram. Used with permission. Copyright 1999, by Chip Ingram. All rights reserved.
About the author: Chip Ingram is President of Walk Thru the Bible in Atlanta, GA, and Teaching Pastor of Living on the Edge, a national radio ministry.
