growing in love

My wise friend Heather is the one who originally gave us the idea of using the "crown of thorns" which we now have been using for 5 years or so each Lent as a way to practice confession together. When I saw her last weekend, she shared with me that this year, her family is reading and memorizing 1 Corinthians 13 together as a way to talk about the crown of thorns: 

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, 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. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 

After reading this passage, 

Heather framed sin simply as a failure to grow in love. 

This totally resonates with me.  

I've heard this in other contexts before, 

but it shed new light on this passage to be using it with our Lenten crown of thorns practice. 

1 Corinthians 13 can serve as a mirror that shows me 

the places that I am in need of mercy and grace.   

So many of the challenges in life are really all about learning to love well, and 

Lent is a time that exposes me and gently reminds me that I have much to learn to grow in love—

as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend, as a wife, as a mother...

I know I need God's forgiveness and need for Him to teach me to love with His love.  

We have also been reading the Jesus Storybook Bible some nights during Lent 

and I am reminded that it all just boils down to love.... 

giving thanks this Lent for His love that abounds...