I'm a Chiquita Banana

I'd like to start this post by asking a multiple choice question, so indulge me if you will.

When someone observes your life, be they Christian or not, how is it that they will know you are a Christian?
a. You are a walking Strongs Concordance from the vast passages of Scripture you've memorized.
b. You are such a faithful church attendee that the neighbors can set their clock 3 times a week by your coming and going.
c. Debate 101 is your middle name, and boy can you wipe the floor with any foe who takes you on.
d. You sing to yourself "I'm a Chiquita Banana, hmm, hmm, hmm" as you hope to display the fruit of the Spirit, and above all, be known for your love for others.
e. All of the above.

While none of the options are bad in and of themselves, when it comes down to it we should strive to be known by our love for each other. (Ding, ding, ding, ding. And, the correct answer is "D".)

As I see it there is a fine line (or maybe not so fine a line) between love and works. In the end it is not going to matter if I won the Bible Bee for most memorization, if I had gold stars for 50 consecutive years of perfect attendance or if I could outwit, outlast, outplay someone else in debate. In the end all that matters is what is in the heart, that it is a heart of love.

The following is 1 Cor. 13 from The Message, and a breath of fresh air to me:

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit.

We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."

Living a life in Christ is easy...we just have to keep love at the forefront!

Erica :->