Love Is In the Ashes

1Corinthians 13:6 (Love)… “…takes no pleasure in wrongdoing”

After pouring over the commentaries as to what they have to say about these 6 little words, I am again ashamed as to how my own heart ‘takes pleasure in wrongdoing’. Let me explain.

• Yes, I’m guilty of ‘I just KNEW IT!’ feelings when someone I haven’t been too fond of has been caught and also guilty of having that satisfaction that they are now proven evil to the whole world.
• Yes, I’m guilty of feeling utterly fulfilled when I’ve signaled someone they are “number one with a bullet” in traffic after putting up with their idiotic driving; wondering WHERE is the policeman to give this person a ticket, as I pass them by…
• And the one thing I’m most ashamed of is being so giddy when I found out a church I’d been hurt deeply by years ago finally closed. I felt so vindicated, so self righteous. Now the world knew too, that they didn’t deserve to be called a church.

What evil nasty thoughts I have!

But you know what? A heart that has truly been converted over to the Lord only feels sorrow when these things happen not gratified…not self satisfied…not joyful in any way.

It is so fitting that I’d feel deeply aware of my sin and shame today, as it is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, or the 40 days before Easter that many Liturgical churches observe.

I am glad that I’m brought to my knees in shame, because it shows me how much farther I need to grow in the Lord in order to be that person whose heart is truly cleaned and purified before Him.

Dear Lord,
I’m sorry for the error of my thinking, and the self righteousness of my thoughts.
Help me overcome these heart sins so that
I only have heart ache over these kinds of things.
Please continue to cleanse my heart as I go through this exploration of love
in order to come out of this a better person than when I started.