One day when I was 15 or 16, I was having a tiff with my younger sister Jessica in the kitchen while my mom was trying to talk on the phone. This was in the days before cordless phones, so the phone cord kept my mom stuck in the room with the two of us at the kitchen counter arguing in loud voices.
Mom put her hand over the phone and said, “Both of you! I want you to go to your rooms and look up 1 Corinthians 13. Write it out and starting with verse 4, wherever it refers to ‘love,’ substitute your own name.”
I went to my room and opened my Bible.
I came to verse 4 and wrote “Erik is patient.”
Aargh!
Then… “Erik is kind.”
That didn’t work either.
I thought, Is there anything in this list that fits me?
I hadn’t displayed any of those qualities when I was needling my sister and getting her upset.
It was very convicting.
What St. Paul wrote
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
“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.
But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
“13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13 NIV).
Today’s prayer
Lord, change me. Help me put aside my childish ways. Help me learn to love. Amen.
©2019 by Becky Cerling Powers
Reprint with attribution only (www.beckypowers.com)
You can find more family stories from Becky Cerling Powers in Laura’s Children: the hidden story of a Chinese orphanage and My Roots Go Back to Loving and other stories from “Year of the Family” in the Bookstore
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Insights & Reflections for Parents in October: from the Parent Powerline
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Reflections for Parents in April, Week One: parenting insights from the Parent Powerline
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No Matter What, I Love You Every Day: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Mental Maps: a faith based story on love from the Story Powerline
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Putting Myself in the Love Chapter: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Reading to Babies: parenting insights from the Parent Powerline
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Being a Better Parent....One Week at a Time...in February 2021
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Resolving the Past: a faith-based story from the Story Powerline
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Keep Trying: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Being a Better Parent....One Week at a Time...in January 2021
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Working With -- Not Against -- Life Seasons: parenting insights from the Parent Powerline
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Slow Down for Christmas: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Ruth & Boaz, Part 2: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Ruth & Boaz, Part 1: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Double Minded Doggie: a faith based Beatitudes story from the Story Powerline
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Parenting in the Mess: Tips from the Parent Powerline
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Grandpa Thure Cerling, Part 2: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Grandpa Thure Cerling, Part 1: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Temptation: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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TALK: A Simple Way to Help Kids with School: tips from the Parent Powerline
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The Most Conscientious Hunter I Ever Met: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Washing Feet: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Ruby Bridges, part 2: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Ruby Bridges, part 1: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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The Hundred Chart: math lesson tips from the Parent Powerline
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4/8/2020
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Turned Around: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Fear in Residence: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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3/24/2020
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3/23/2020
Dreaming of Anita Jo: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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No Complaint Dinners: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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3/10/2020
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3/5/2020
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My Two Dads, part two: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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Grandma's Apron: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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2/20/2020
Colors of the Beetle: a retold faith based story from the Story Powerline
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2/13/2020
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Afraid to Sleep at Night (Psalm 91): a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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1/22/2020
How the Camel Got His Hump: a retold faith based story
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1/13/2020
Growing Up With Polio: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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1/9/2020
All Things Bright and Beautiful: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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1/7/2020
One Dollar for a Donut: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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1/1/2020
Star of Wonder
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The Shepherds
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12/24/2019
Mary and the Angel
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12/18/2019
Zechariah
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12/10/2019
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First Thanksgiving, Part 3: Gifts & Gratitude (a faith based story from the Story Powerline)
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11/22/2019
Rescuing my Family in Wartime, Part 2: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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11/19/2019
Rescuing my Family in Wartime, Part 1: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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11/1/2019
The Love & Diaper (Nappy) Connection
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10/25/2019
Avon Perfume Surprise: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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10/22/2019
Saving Butterscotch: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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The Patient in Room 116: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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10/8/2019
Belshazzar: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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10/2/2019
My Mysterious Relative & the Missing Paycheck: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
Becky Cerling Powers
9/26/2019
Keeping in Touch with Cousins: a faith based story from the Story Powerline
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9/24/2019
How the Ostrich Got His Long Neck: a faith based retold story from the Story Powerline
Retold by Becky Cerling Powers
9/9/2019
