Inspiration from a teabag

I am a tea drinker.  I love all kinds of hot teas and herbal teas.  Lately I have been drinking the Yogi brand tea, which has these wonderful little thoughts for inspiration on the tag of the tea bag.  Tonights tea stated, 

"We are here to love each other, serve each other, and uplift each other."

Tea has never been so honest!  And it got me thinking about the idea of love.  

Today love seems so temporary and disposable.  I am just as bad as others at forgetting the meaning of love.  We say I love this and I love that and I love you and I love pizza....  We have turned love into this temporary feeling or this temporary thought, when actually, love isn't temporary at all.  Real love isn't at least.

Our model for love isn't supposed to be from this world, but the One who is love and created love.  The Bible says that God is love, and it also says that love never fails, never falters or stumbles.  It doesn't just go away some day when the lovey-dovey feeling is gone.  That is because love isn't the emotion we think it is, but love is an act to be proven.  It isn't based on our words, but our acts.  The love we feel for one anyone is supposed to be an act of service and encouragement and patience and kindness to each other.  

When God said He loved us, it wasn't only through words, but His acts.  He came down and lowered Himself to be one of us, to die for us and redeem us from our own sins.  He didn't have to do that, but He proved His love for us.  And that love never fails.

I have been through many friendships and relationships where love was just this temporary statement.  It was an "I will love you forever" with a side note of "but I might change my mind."  And all the times love was promised to me but abandoned, it made me doubt that love was real at all.  I still struggle with this, and I can only pray that God will help me along the way.  But now I am understanding that love isn't this feeling we state out loud, but it's something that compels us to act in certain ways that prove our love.  Just as Christ loved us and served and uplifted us, so should we to each other because of this love.

And this is what a simple pot of tea reminded me of.  

Peace

I have been struggling with peace for the past couple of weeks.  I had been focusing so much on things that don't really matter, and had lost my focus on serving and loving God.  Sometimes I get caught up in the here and now, worrying about whatever situation I am in or hating where I am at in life, and I lose focus on the reason God has put me in the places I am at and what He might be trying to teach me through those situations.  And then I get restless because I see all these things ahead of me and what I want and where I want to be in life, and I forget that none of that stuff really matters.  In the whole scheme of life, it won't matter where I lived, if I had much money or not, if I got married or not, or even how long I was alive.  All that matters is if I have loved God and done my best to serve Him and tell others about Him.  It's amazing how quickly I can lose focus.  But I was reminded today that no matter what, God loves me and cares for me.  It doesn't matter where I live, how much money I have or don't have, it doesn't matter what I have done, or who I used to be, or if anyone thinks I'm pretty or not, or even if I care to love Him back.  He loves me, no matter what.  And that is awesome, and inspiring. So I am going to try to focus on things that do matter.  Because God first loved me, I want to love others.  And in the end, people are who matter, not all the material crap that the world tell me I need to have.  And realizing this today gave me a ton of peace.  God loves me.  He has a plan for my life.  And it doesn't matter what I have or don't have, because He's got me.  And this is the realization that I want to live in.  So I am thankful for the peace I have been given.  It feels truly amazing.