What is it they say? If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen?
Things of late are resolving, bit by bit.
Sometimes when you belong to a big, strong, loving family, and you want to bring someone into that family fold, the family will guard the fortress and bar the gate until it’s understood what it means to enter that gate. It can be formidable to an outsider; it’s basically running the gauntlet, and not one bit of fun. Once in, though, it’s a pretty great place to be.
If you survive, that is.
Oy.
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Separating the men from the boys… …I found this circulating on the internet…
Boys play house, Men build homes. Boys shack up, Men get married. Boys make babies, Men raise children. A boy won’t raise his own children, a man will raise his and someone else’s. Boys invent excuses for failure, Men produce strategies for success. Boys look for somebody to take care of them, Men look for someone to take care of. Boys seek popularity, Men demand respect and know how to give it. Boys will like you for a month, Men will love you forever.
…It makes me think of this (which comes from the love standard)…
1 Cor 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.
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I’m still shouting from the mountaintops! I’m in love! I am saying this carefully, and considering it deeply, measuring it against snippets of wisdom such as these:
Love is NOT…
1. Something you “fall into” – a black hole.
2. Infatuation. Emotional loss of control. “Flipped out..” “Couldn’t help myself.”Romanticism and sentimentalism. “Puppy love.” Boy-crazy; girl-crazy.
3. Evaluating another by external criteria. “She’s a #10”
4. Selfish. Interested in “getting” to satisfy my needs.
5. Taking advantage of another (age, height, weight, looks, intellect, emotional maturity,
spiritual maturity, social standings, social skills, psychological understanding, place of
authority, financial superiority, etc.)
6. Improper need fulfillment. Need for love, acceptance, relating, bonding, belonging, to be
valued, affirmed, excitement, identity, etc.
7. Lust. Hormones. Lasciviousness, sensuality.
8. Sex.
9. Idolatry. “……….is my life.” Totally preoccupied in attention and time.
Love is…
1. Respectful of the other person’s values, standards and opinions.
2. Unselfish and unconditional.
3. A decision to relate to the other person at every level – spiritual, psychological and physical.
4. Giving of oneself to the other.
5. Responsible to seek the highest good of the other person “for better or for worse.”
6. God in action. (Rom. 5:5; I John 4:8,16)
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The bottom line? My heart is at peace and it is well with my soul.
