I had the honor of accompanying my better half to the Home Going celebration for the mother of a very close friend of his.
At the service the bishop decided to speak on something called "Agape Love"
(pronounced a-gah-pee or ah-gah-pay)
Agape Love:
"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Unfortunately I am not nearly as familiar with The Word as I should be (but not for long), so this was a foreign term to me. But when I began to read 1 Corinthians 13 and she started to break down exactly what this Agape Love is (and how this woman lived her life displaying this kind of love to others).... it blew me away.
Now I have to say last week was a struggle for me. I was dealing with alot, including the news of 3 deaths in 2 days and the betrayal of a close friend. I was doing alot of searching for answers as to why things happen a certain way and why people do certain things to others, and I felt like I was meant to hear these enlightening words.
Let me be the first to admit that I am very far from embodying and/or sharing this kind of love. I fall short in so many ways so please don't think that I am holding myself on any better than thou pedestal here. For one my temper constantly gets the better of me. I am extremely impatient and yes, believe it or not I can actually be pretty rude alot of the time. Also, I have my fair share of pride, and if I feel that someone had embarassed or disrespected me it's hard for me to just let it go. But hey it might just be a growing up in Brooklyn thing lol. And if nothing else it could be that I'm just human!!
But I do see where I may be on the right track, which is a gift and a curse at times. I do not envy (I think that trait is gross) what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours, point blank. I always protect (alwasy the first to defend a friend, I've talked myself blue in the face trying to refute negative things I've been told about a friend. And forget about physical confrontation, Imma get to you before my friend does lol). I always trust (even when everything else is telling me to do otherwise)..... I hope (for the best)! Some call it naivete but alot of the time it's that same naivete that makes me a better person in the long run. It's not that I don't know any better but I like to see the good in people. I like to think that what I give out is what I get in return, and when someone else falls short that's not on my head, thats their L.
I think its important to hope that someone stands up to your expectations of them, of what a friend should be, what a brother should be, what a good man should be and here's the line that completely messed me up: "Agape love keeps no record of wrong doing". Huh?!Now how do you do that?! and no offense but isn't that considered being a fool? If you let others do wrong to you, and never hold it against them, aren't you just setting yourself up to be played again and again???
I mean, this is one of those things that you almost have to be an Angel to truly follow. But I know one thing, I refuse to live my life bitter or scorn.... numb from too many let downs. I'd rather learn Agape Love....
I have to say that in all my 20 odd years on this earth the person that has come closest to this description of showing Agape love to me (other than my mother/granny) is my better half. I never knew that there was really a name for what this man has shown me, I mean I guess I figured it was that Real love that Mary sang to me about when I was coming up. Oh, he's no angel himself, but when I read that passage I have to admit that he's pretty darn close.
Well, you know what Mary, real love is really out there girl, cause I sure enough got me some!
If you have any thoughts on Agape Love or anything that I've mentioned regarding this concept please feel free to leave a comment.........
At the service the bishop decided to speak on something called "Agape Love"
(pronounced a-gah-pee or ah-gah-pay)
Agape Love:
"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
Unfortunately I am not nearly as familiar with The Word as I should be (but not for long), so this was a foreign term to me. But when I began to read 1 Corinthians 13 and she started to break down exactly what this Agape Love is (and how this woman lived her life displaying this kind of love to others).... it blew me away.
Now I have to say last week was a struggle for me. I was dealing with alot, including the news of 3 deaths in 2 days and the betrayal of a close friend. I was doing alot of searching for answers as to why things happen a certain way and why people do certain things to others, and I felt like I was meant to hear these enlightening words.
Let me be the first to admit that I am very far from embodying and/or sharing this kind of love. I fall short in so many ways so please don't think that I am holding myself on any better than thou pedestal here. For one my temper constantly gets the better of me. I am extremely impatient and yes, believe it or not I can actually be pretty rude alot of the time. Also, I have my fair share of pride, and if I feel that someone had embarassed or disrespected me it's hard for me to just let it go. But hey it might just be a growing up in Brooklyn thing lol. And if nothing else it could be that I'm just human!!
But I do see where I may be on the right track, which is a gift and a curse at times. I do not envy (I think that trait is gross) what's mine is mine and what's yours is yours, point blank. I always protect (alwasy the first to defend a friend, I've talked myself blue in the face trying to refute negative things I've been told about a friend. And forget about physical confrontation, Imma get to you before my friend does lol). I always trust (even when everything else is telling me to do otherwise)..... I hope (for the best)! Some call it naivete but alot of the time it's that same naivete that makes me a better person in the long run. It's not that I don't know any better but I like to see the good in people. I like to think that what I give out is what I get in return, and when someone else falls short that's not on my head, thats their L.
I think its important to hope that someone stands up to your expectations of them, of what a friend should be, what a brother should be, what a good man should be and here's the line that completely messed me up: "Agape love keeps no record of wrong doing". Huh?!Now how do you do that?! and no offense but isn't that considered being a fool? If you let others do wrong to you, and never hold it against them, aren't you just setting yourself up to be played again and again???
I mean, this is one of those things that you almost have to be an Angel to truly follow. But I know one thing, I refuse to live my life bitter or scorn.... numb from too many let downs. I'd rather learn Agape Love....
I have to say that in all my 20 odd years on this earth the person that has come closest to this description of showing Agape love to me (other than my mother/granny) is my better half. I never knew that there was really a name for what this man has shown me, I mean I guess I figured it was that Real love that Mary sang to me about when I was coming up. Oh, he's no angel himself, but when I read that passage I have to admit that he's pretty darn close.
Well, you know what Mary, real love is really out there girl, cause I sure enough got me some!
If you have any thoughts on Agape Love or anything that I've mentioned regarding this concept please feel free to leave a comment.........
9 comments:
wow i must say this is a very interesting post it is deep and i felt something while reading it. keep up the good work
That was really deep. While reading it, I felt as if the words had jumped off the page, and you were sitting here telling me the story yourself. I felt a connection with what you said, and when your able to connect with your audience then it becomes more than just words, and more of a lesson learned. I just learned something, thanks. Great job!
This is a great blog and i look forward to reading more.
Meressa this story, just like you felt it was meant for you i felt the same way ! Thank you Cuzz i needed to read something like this. LOVE YOU♥
Wow!!! That Deep... I felt something too! and it make Me wonder about my situtaion...
From reading this comment I can reflect on my own journey...because true Love of others, whether friend, family or lover, can never be successful unless you have been able to Love yourself...many people do not TRULY love themselves, for whatever reasons (of which many people wont even admit), and so Loving others is something thats seems like an unattainable goal....but it is not...Loving yourself is accepting your self for who you are while at the same time recognizing faults within yourself that need to be changed AND making a sincere effort in changing it....and unfortunately, it takes people to have an actual loss or tragedy to understand how much they have been unLoving or unappreciative of the Love they recieve from others....I, myself, am not perfect but I do say that I give a very sincere effort at addressing my faults and Loving others to the best of my ability
To only think i found this in 2010 lol...i knew i was missing something on my new route. not really wating to leave u a message here (bc ur my friend! i can just text u =) but for whatever reason it brought me closer to u today) listen to everyone that says keep up the good work =) allllllllll of it!! im so happy & proud i follow u, and to have u as a friend.
@Shy :D I'm sooo happy for you!!!! Doesnt it make the birds chirp a little louder and the sun shine a bit brighter every morning!! :)
You def deserve it, you're a beautiful person!! Inside & out!!
Im glad to know Cali is treating you well!
Thanks for all those kind words of support that really means alot to me! and those sentiments are all mutual girl! Mwah!! xoxo
p.s. Happy New Year! :)
Goes back to me saying none of us are perfect nor will we ever be. That love is something we all seek yet we dont master loving ourselves and that is the first most important thing. I know for me I have a lot of work to do and ask God to work on me everyday because I share some of the same things, my temper is crazy ( thank God I am not where I used to be) and my patience is def a work in progress, we all just have to want to work on it and eventually we can get to that point. I am so glad that you have someone to share that with and God will continue to bless what you have. You definitely have a gift and I will continue to support you in that gift!!!! Do ya thing Queen, nuff respect to you and all that you are accomplishing!!
Peace and Love
Jill
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