1 Cor 13: 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
We just got a new puppy named Remi. She never gets angry. Never holds a grudge. 0 bitterness. She’s patient, kind, loving and humble. Always like this, not just sometimes. She’s all these things, all the time.
My puppy teaches me to be a better Christian (and a more Tolerable human being too boot!). She got rained on last night (she has a nice dry warm place to be but she’s a puppy). She hates rain, So she chases and tries to bite the raindrops. I could hear her complaining all night long (she has husky in her.) This morning she didn’t hold a grudge though. I got licked to death the moment she saw me. I accidentally stepped on her paw, she squeaked, then licked me, loved me, forgave me, Instantaneously.
She also teaches me to minister. I needed a break today, kind of feeling overwhelmed, so I went outside, sat down and prayed. She just sat beside me. Didn’t say a word, not even a lick or a husky howl. Just Accompanied me while I sat and prayed. Puppy ministry.
My puppy’s example teaches me how to be a better Christian. A genuine 1 Corinthians 13 type Christian! That’s my dream. When you are there, you are Christ like. Check out how the NIV says the opening verse (my Bible is the Reina Valera Spanish version so I don’t get the King James only people, 99% of The world Doesn’t speak english, let alone read it). Every language and country and people group other than English speakers don’t use the KJV. Actually Reina Valera 1960 is closer to the NIV
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,it is not easily angered,it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Sounds just like my puppy!! Haha. Does not sound like any person I know, Christian or not!! I actually do not know any human beings even close to 1 Corinthians 13:4-5. every puppy I have ever met exemplifies it though!!! Interesting isn’t it?
I want to be more like my puppy. No one is intimidated by her, ever. She’s nice. She’s kind and friendly and is totally loving on anyone she meets. Street bums, gays, prostitutes, Republicans, Democrats, evangelicals, Americans, Nicaraguans, Russians, Venezuelans, Cubans, Germans, pastors, Catholics, even the French Backpackers that didn’t like dogs, or pets, or Something, I kind of tuned them out when I saw The look of extreme disapproval on there faces. (Don’t pat the pouter)
Remi absolutely doesn’t care. She’s happy to meet everyone, and loves them just because they are. As a result, 99%. Of the people, except the french backpackers, loved her and let her lick them with her little puppy tongue. She even licked the frenchies.
I want to be like that with every person I meet too (except for the licking part. I actually think it would be hysterically funny, but most wouldn’t understand). I want to love everyone passionately and recklessly, irregardless of whether they like me or not, their beliefs, lifestyles, race or politics.
Not even a newborn human baby attains to 1 Cor 13:4-5 standards. They make mommy (who hasn’t slept in 48 hours) feed them. If they don’t get fed immediately they make so much hideous noise that the mom can’t sleep. New daddy is trying to help the tuckered out mommy By changing the baby’s diapers and the little baby lets them have it, full bast! They grab other babies blankets and binkies.
They get mad if they get woken up. The get mad if they smell food being cooked. Babies do not have the fruit of the spirit. We are not born with it. We we never have it all. But it’s our life mission to try.
The Bible says in Psalm 14:3 “They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one”
None of us is good. None of us is a shining example of 1 Cor 13. That means we need help. We need to at least try. ‘I was born that way’ is not an excuse. A puppy knows it hasn’t arrived yet at becoming a good watch dog. She barks at a butterfly, until she sees that I’m not afraid of it so she calms down. She wants me to be an example. She looks at Lee Lee (our Weener dog) as an example. My puppy tries to improve. So do I. So should all true believers. She looks for examples to follow. So do I. My puppy is teachable. So am I.
Examples are great. While no one has attained yet the Christ like state that we are supposed to attain, we are to strive to be conformed to Christ’s image. We are to try to be just like Jesus as described in 1 Cor 13:4-8. Being like Jesus someday is in our destiny if we are saved.
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son
Every one I associate with and count as a friend and mentor have SOME of the traits of 1 Cor 13. No one has all of the traits, but some of them. Only my puppy has all of these traits, and I use her as an example as much as I can, except the licking part. I have a friend who is patient, so I learn from him. I know a pastor who is very kind so I learn from him (very few pastors are actually kind for some reason, but this guy is over the top!). I have a friend who is very content in his station in life, and is a cheerleader for others. Not an envious bone in his body. So he teaches me. I know humble people that never boast (if they tell me how humble they are, they are automatically disqualified). Non- boastful people bless me and teach me. The list goes on… The point is, although everyone has one or two of the fruits down pat, they’re terrible at other ones.
Completely having all the Fruit of the Spirit, LOVE, is seemingly unattainable. Like I said, although a puppy is not a spiritual being, one of the dogmas of Christianity is that we can learn about God through nature. My puppy is au natural. But she Teaches me daily how to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit.
Becoming filled with the fruits of the Spirit just doesn’t happen like an orange tree develops Oranges. All an orange tree has to do is live and oranges Pop out. All oranges have to do to ripen. Not so with the fruits of The Holy Spirit. You have to intentionally and deliberately work for it, because you love Jesus, and want to lead other to Him. You have to ‘give value’ to God (the definition of Worship).
Impatient people, for example, have a lifelong battle on their hands if they want to become the image Christ (and that should be the goal of every believer). They need patient people in their lives to teach them, to help them. An impatient Christian also lacks in humility, kindness and gentleness. That is a bad example( a bad testimony). All of the fruits of the Spirit we have to be conscious of. We need to work on:
A – I work on being a better ‘more Christ like’ Christian by becoming more like my puppy. Do you realize how many more people would accept Jesus as their personal Lord Savior if all Christians intentionally tried to be more like Christ?
But to do so, what do I need to learn from my puppy?
1. Be GENUINELY EXCITED TO MEET EVERY ONE AND ANY ONE. LOVE THEM UNCONDITIONALLY
2. Be honest
3. Be real, be yourself
4. Be patient
5. Be quick to forgive
6. Be loving, caring and ALL THERE wherever you are
7. Be humble.
B – I work on being a better Pastor by becoming more like my puppy.
How? By:
1. Not giving unsolicited advice
2. Not getting angry over Anything, be Quick to Forgive.
3. Genuinely loving and paying attention to everyone
4. Knowing Everything is important and needs attention, even to details.
5. Never stop learning
6. Never stop being happy
7. Words are the last resort: my puppy doesn’t say anything to me but influences me by her way of being.
We are being watched. Although a puppy doesn’t know it’s being watched, it is. They just do what comes natural, and usually it is delightful to see. We many times forget we are being watched. But unlike the puppy, when we let our guard down, we are not so ‘delightful to see’. Sometimes we get downright ugly!!!!
2 Cor 3:2-3 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Bless you
Dean and Winnie
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