Fruit of the Spirit Part 3

"Patience is a virtue."  I can't remember how many times I have heard my parents or an older adult say this.  Whether its waiting in line at the buffet, or for your turn on the swingset, or maybe just to grow up, you have to learn to be patient.  This is DEFINITELY not one of my strong points. But, in the Bible even God says that one major fruit of the spirit is patience.  Sometimes that seems so impossible.  You lose your temper at your sibling for stealing your phone and you may push past a student who is walking too slow in the hallway.  Even as Christians, patience doesn't come easy.  You get frustrated, and tested and sometimes just feel like you need to forget everything you've been living for.  You burst every once in a while into fury and rage because of lack of patience. 

Think about this for a moment: What if God was not patient with us? Would we still be here? Or would we have a one way ticket in the opposite direction..?  He wanted to teach us patience through his nurturing and kindness. However, even God's patience has been tested at times.  Genesis 6:1 "God saw how great wickedness had become and decided to wipe mankind from the face of the earth."  His loss of patience is different from ours, though.  He has the ultimate plan for everything and always calms the storm after His wrath rages through.  I think that the reason he wanted us to learn patience and exercise it in life is because without it, we could not find peace.

I don't know of alot of people who are peaceful when they are aggravated, trying to control irritation to the thing that is bothering them.  I do know this though: When I was at ADORE (my youth group's conference in PA), I came with a spiritually impatient mindset.  It was as if I listed everything I expected out of God, and if He took too long then I would go on my merry way.  When worship started, my one friend came up to me to tell me how much they cherished me as a friend and wanted to build our friendship.  It was definitely a humbling experience for me and I knew it was God's way of saying things always come in his time and I needed to have the patience/faith to go along with his plans.  There wasn't to be any hesitation or doubt involved. 

After that incident,  it felt like I was just being wrapped in a huge hug by somebody, but no one was there.  Then I felt this incredible warmth and I realized something.  I was at complete peace in my spirit, which is another healthy fruit, maybe one of the most important.  All of the things that had been tugging at my heart seemed to fall off of me and drift away.  I wasn't worried. I wasn't scared.  All I was focusing on was the Lord, and that calmed me more than anything ever had in my life.  To be at peace with an Almighty God is a great feeling, but to know that He is responsible for instilling that tranquility into your soul is greater. 

Dear Lord, I know I ask for so much already, but I pray that you help all of your sons and daughters to feel Your peace.  It is so much easier to love, have joy, and be patient when there is nothing holding us down or pestering us.  Bless those who are hurting and who are on the fence when it comes to seeking You.  I also pray that You continue to bless those who have found You and that they will stay on this track with you forever.  I love You with all the capacity in my heart, and You know that.  In Jesus's name, Amen.

The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.
(Psalm 29:11)

Fruit of the Spirit Part 2

Last weekend I went to an event that is the MAJOR turning point in my relationship with Jesus Christ.  The name of it was ADORE.  The main focus of this youth conference was to recognize the pure adoration we should have towards our God and the love we need to return back to him.  I had never been in a place with so much love and potential among teens in my life!

On the way there (the 10 hour van ride to Bethlehem, PA) I am going to admit that I had my doubts.  Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to see God move me and so many others not just in my youth group, but kids that were coming to the conference that weekend.  Inside I just felt like I was kinda on a loose chain with God and didn't deserve to be exposed to His glory and power for an entire weekend.  I felt so insignificant.  Just think about it: We serve an all powerful, perfect, and righteous being.  So why did I  deserve His grace and forgiveness? The truth is, I didn't.  I felt like I had done nothing in my life to glorify God and make a difference.

That night I got the privilege to see my best friend give up her life to Jesus Christ and serve Him.  It overwhelmed me to the point of tears and at that moment I knew God's presence was in that place.  Actually, He had been there the whole time and I was just too stupid to realize it.  One kid who was about 16 stood up and talked about how he wanted our generation to make a difference in a world of lust, lies, violence, and pain.  He wanted us to be the generation that tore down the walls and are prepared to be warriors for God to make him proud and shut the devil up.  I couldn't have agreed more with what he said.  This world is going into worse and worse condition, and we need to have the strength and faith to know that we can touch people's hearts and conquer any battle through God as our shield. 

Now about love and joy, the last hour of Adore was dedicated to prayer over people in the building.  There were so many other amazing things that happened, but I wanted to focus on this.  As we prayed and just lifted our hands to God to praise Him and thank Him for our dysfunctional families, I realized something.  I loved EVERY single person in that room.  Even though I only knew 7% of them, I loved them all to death.  They were all my brothers and sisters and I realized that God had brought us together for the same cause, even if we lived hundreds of miles away from each other.  The love I felt, however, would not have been possible if it wasn't for the neverending love that Jesus has shown me all my life.  Same with the joy that came when I realized my love for these kids.  Love and joy surpass any feeling a human being can have for 2 main reasons.
1) God radiates a love so great and so deep that we can't help but want to drown in it.
2)When we drown in that love, it brings us joy.
Bitterness can't make you happy. Regret doesn't cheer you up.  Hatred doesnt make you want to sing a happy tune.  It's the love that you give out to people. But the more you give out, the more you will receive from your heavenly father.  Seek His joy and you will be blessed beyond comprehension.

Psalm 97:11-12 - "Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name."

To those of you still reading, thank you for the support. I love every single one of you. And thats the truth :)

Fruit of The Spirit Part I

 ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  -Galatians 5:22-27

Everyday I try to live by these things and fail.  It is so hard sometimes to wrap yourself in the peaceful things God knows that we will love and live for in order to be a part of His kingdom.  In the above verses, you are not merely being informed about fruits that the Holy Spirit enjoys to endulge in.  You are being directed into a new way of living your life.  I have a challenge for myself and anyone else who is reading this blog.  Every day I will focus on one or two fruits of the spirit, and will try to reflect my actions that day by those fruits.  Also, at the end of the day I plan to talk about that specific fruit of the spirit to make it clearer as to what God means by each trait in order to live the right way.

I am going to start focusing on love and joy after I return from a youth conference I am going to this weekend called ADORE..  Like I said in a previous post,  love and joy definitely do not come naturally, and these emotions do not linger with us 24/7, but they are there when it really counts.  I can't wait to see what God has in store for this weekend.

Joy Isn't Always Guaranteed.

There are alot of depressed people in this world.  It doesn't matter what economic, social, or religious background you come from.  Gender has nothing to do with it either.  Kinda makes you wonder what is wrong with the world nowadays.

I have many friends who are Christian but often find themselves becoming very sad or depressed about things going on in their lives.  I often hear them say things like "I'm following God. Why am I always so unhappy?" or "Weren't we supposed to be granted eternal happiness by turning to this life?" They haven't said these exact words, but that's basically the main idea behind it.

Today I was talking to someone I am really close to.  She is intelligient, funny, brave, and has an amazing relationship with Jesus Christ.  As we were talking about growing up and life in general,  she said this to me "You are going to be a leader among your peers.  Your influence as a Christian is going to make a huge impact on those younger than you, whether it be spiritually or in age.  And I'll be honest with you, sometimes this life is gonna suck, because you have so much expected out of you. But in the end God has an ultimate purpose and you won't be upset and frustrated all the time."

Even as Christians, God never guaranteed us a perfect life on this earth.  Whether we like it or not, we are going to struggle, suffer, hurt, and go through stages of sadness or depression.  There was never anything in our "salvation" contract that said: Oh yeah, if you follow me then you will be happy your entire life.  It just doesn't work like that. We all have emotions and mountains that we will constantly have to climb. 

Some people may say that this is harsh, or think: If God really loved me, he wouldn't want me to suffer. He would want me to be happy all the time and float cloud 9 constantly.  If we were always on that spiritual high, without a care in the world and constantly content, imagine how boring life would be. We would only have one emotion, no one could relate to each other's feelings, and you could not reach out to others because when someone is happy, they figure life is good and they don't need someone like God to influence their lives.  Also, take this into consideration.  God sent his ONE and ONLY son down from heaven to save us from an eternal death in hell. Jesus, the son of God, was perfect.  He did not deserve to feel human emotions or pain, but he suffered nonetheless for everyone who is on this earth, and who will be on this earth in the future.  He was beaten, spit on, bruised, stabbed, ripped apart, and hung on a cross. Yet we complain about whenever we aren't super happy and bouncing off the walls.

God sends His love and joy in subtle bursts. He only allows you to feel his overwhelming joy when you most need it in life.  Sometimes you can find joy just by serving Him.  Normally it doesn't come from earthly things, at least not in a Christian lifestyle.  But for heaven's sake, don't expect to be in a state of eternal bliss all the time! After all God has done for you to nurture and take care of you, that should be enough to have you jumping out of your seat dancing for joy.  Now don't get me wrong. I am guilty of taking my life for granted and the things God has blessed me with. I can admit to that. But the point is, find happiness in the grace he has given you and don't be discouraged when you are unhappy.  That is just a part of human nature, and it never lasts forever.

Job 36:11:

If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.

Patience and Faith in Love

I was reading the blog post of a friend of mine the other day.  Basically, she was stating how many times girls need a guy in order to feel content in life, or to make us feel significant and valuable.  And I agree with her, why is that? At one point of another we have all been guilty of letting a guy influence what we wear, how we act, and where we go.  Whether or not he has good or bad intentions in mind, we go along with it because we feel that somehow it will fill a void that has been empty in our hearts.

I would say that my friends are predominately Christian, or building a relationship with Jesus Christ.  I have seen them all struggle with these problems at one point or another, and so have I.  But sometimes, I don't understand why we don't just find that comfort and acceptance in the man we are supposed to be married to before an earthly guy- his name is God! He is married to the church (us) and wants to take care of us, love us, protect us, and make us feel special.  All we have to do is love Him back, but many times we want to receive acceptance from earthly things instead of spiritual beings.

After reading her blog,  I began to think of the character Mandy Moore played, named Jamie in A Walk to Remember. (Btw, if you haven't seen this movie, rent it, borrow it from a friend, even steal it! Well, don't steal it, but you get the idea.)  She was a pastor's daughter, which basically means that everyone expected her to be perfect and not screw up at anything.  This led to resentment from her peers and a great understanding for human emotions.  When one of the popular boys, named Landon was forced to participate in the school play after getting in trouble, she could see his broken life and wanted to help him. Her only condition? That he wouldn't fall in love with her.

As they began to work on the play, Landon did in fact begin to fall in love with Jamie, but not that premature "love" where a guy just thinks the girl is hot and wants to sleep with her.  Jamie set limits for him, and for a while refused to even go on dates with him and define herself as his girlfriend.  She didn't need to feel special by him kissing her or even holding her close, although that wasn't something she hated either.  As she had shown him by the middle of the movie, she had God taking care of her.  He had shown her a love and comfort so deep that it had gotten her through school all those years of girls insulting her and boys treating her like a zebra in a herd of lions. 

The part of the movie I loved the most was when Jamie told Landon she had a terminal illness.  This is the point where you saw his true character.  He was so upset and concerned with this fragile girl that he tenderly cared about, that he was willing to do whatever it takes to bring her back to health.  It wasn't out of his own selfishness, because for the first time he began to truly look at someone else's life to see how he could improve it, instead of his own.  In the end, he married her a year or so before she died.  Although this seems a little corny, and maybe even unrealistic, the topics in this movie speak volumes.

Through watching this movie, I realized a few things:
1) Some boys don't understand how extremely fragile girls are.  I'm not trying to bash boys, because there are many guys who do. Girls just seem to never fall for those boys or even give them a second glance most of the time. Even those girls who act like they have it together and are always thinking of others before themselves, can be broken down at the words or even actions of a guy.
2) It takes alot more than a pretty, nice girl to change a boy who doesn't have his heart in the right place.  It takes God more than anything and a girl that is willing to work with a guy till the end to touch his heart and help him change.
3) This life is extremely short, and you have to take advantage of everyday that is given to you, whether it is romantically, or with your family, or even just people around you.

Even by senior year in highschool, there are going to be boys that are immature when it comes to their thoughts and actions towards girls.  They don't try to do it on purpose, but that can be their nature sometimes.  The only true thing that will help pull them through this stage in their lives is God.  Not 25% of him though, or even 80%. I am talking about 110% of Him and only Him.  God is love, and therefore he is the ultimate source of comfort in this world and He thinks you are significant.  I'm not saying become a nun and never look at another boy again, but think of it this way: There is hope in this world for you to find your Landon.  Even though it may seem that it's impossible, it isn't. You have to have hope.  But at the same time, girls especially need to guard their hearts, because they are too precious to constantly keep breaking because of a boy that wasn't even worth it.  You are beautiful beyond measure, whether a man that you have feelings for realizes it or not.  Don't expect any less than your Heavenly Father has already given you.  So when you think you have a guy that is decent, loves you, but most importantly God, pray to Him about it first, and let him guide you.  He will never let you down. 

“To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.”- Brandi Snyder

Be patient, and God will show you the man you have been waiting for at the perfect time in your life.  Until then, keep growing in your relationship with the Lord and you will be contented until that time. 

Love you guys <3

I Feel that a Poem is in Order

He's never truly loved us,
just wants to divide us
He lives to wreak havoc and tears
Malicious is his name and Painful is his game.
He thinks he is never going to lose.
He deceives, lies, breaks people apart
Causing confusion is to his delight.
He laughs and points at those who suffer
and truly believes he has won the fight.
He's Satan, blacker than the deepest crevice
and sleasier than a snake in the grass
But time will show that he will have time to woe
Because someone has already won the fight.


There is ONE who will not stand for the damage the Enemy has caused. His name is Jehovah, God, the Alpha and Omega, the God of everything there was and is and is to come.  I shall stand with my arms stretched out to reach him and will not give up. There are times to be wrong and there are times to be right.  There are also times to forgive and put up a fight, for what you believe in.  Love is oh so patient, and it is also kind.  KIND. That is the part of love we forget. KINDNESS. I will not shade my head in dismay.  I will keep my head held high like those around me, and i will not give out bitterness for the enemy to feed himself with. Who can truly be against us if our God is for us?

"The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have annointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."  - Psalm 23

Divine Authority Over Our Insecurities

Today at school I was talking to my friend named Kendall.  Everyday at school we always have so much on our minds to talk about.  It seems so depressing when we meet that fork in the road in the hallway to go to our respectable classes.  It's awesome because we never run out of topics to cover in our conversations, and they always have hilarious outcomes.

So that got me thinking: Why is it that there are certain friends we can talk to nonstop for hours and then there are those friends who we find it is easier to learn Adv Calc then come up with a conversation starter?  I find that more often than not, I face this dilemma on a daily basis, and so do many people that I know- especially when it comes to talking about our faith. Maybe it's because we are insecure? That could be a major factor.

For kids nowadays, there is this major focus on perfection.  We see it in magazines, on tv, in books we read, and pretty much everywhere.  Somehow in our minds we have to have the perfect clothes, skin tone, hair, friends, and personality.  I think anyone can be held accountable for feeling this way at one point or another.  The problem is that we don't trust ourselves and even those individuals who stand out very rarely do when they are around kids who might be the polar opposites of them.

Let's face facts.  Even if you have the perfect boyfriend, best friends, family, church, grades, whatever, you are going to be insecure whether you show it or not.  My insecurity is that I feel if I say something stupid to certain people, then they will shun me for life.  That would be fine and dandy if it wasn't for that fact that I am a Christian.

Look at Jesus in the bible. (preferably  Matthew 8:2-3 which states:"A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.") and ( Matt 23:13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." )

In those verses, Jesus stands out because he doesn't act differently just because of the people he was around.  He speaks in a tone that is as commanding towards the Pharisees as it was to the man with leprosy.  We find it so hard to stand out and speak up for our beliefs.  Jesus was the perfect example to us of what it is like to be yourself.  He can do amazing things through us.

I guess to sum all of this up, our insecurities can often get in the way of us reaching out to people.  Jesus Christ was the biggest contrast to anyone in the world and yet he did not fear rejection or ridicule from people his age, or even those who were older than him.  I'm hoping and praying that us Christian guys and gals will find the courage to come out of our shells to worry less about how ridiculus we could possibly look in front of people who have NO authority to judge us, and more about what our heavenly father will think about us. 

 

Matthew 10:33

 "but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

This verse is no joke, and gives us alot to think about.

P.S: Kendall Scott, I'm really loving this whole blog thing! :D

Divided We Stand?

It seems like ever since I turned my life over to Christ, there has been a constant struggle.  Whether I was fighting with friends or my family, or just struggling with schoolwork and sports, I knew I would be able to get through the week because I had youth on Fridays.  When it first started, it was so innocent.  There was no drama and everyone loved each other genuinely.

After about half a year of the "honeymoon" stage in our growing group, the Enemy began to attack in many ways.  He would tear apart friendships, bring bad influences into the place, or tempt people with lust and selfishness.  This was the first time I really started to question whether or not to come to youth group.

There is a saying that says "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."  I still don't have any explanation for why I kept attending through the ridicule and drama of others, but God kept calling me to go.  Satan would have wanted me to give up and forget the path I had chosen to travel my life on.  Fortunately, God fought back so much harder and refused to let go of me and so many others who were doubting their faith and the works He was doing through them. 

Even when we got to high school, all of the kids my age believed these years would be better.  We had our ups and downs but God always healed us in the end.  One major thing that has gotten me in highschool is two  faced people.  They act one way on day 1 and on day 3 they are a completely different person.  To top that off, they act as if nothing they have done or said is wrong.  I had a major struggle with handling these people over the summer, and still continue to pray about this issue.  The second profile I strongly dislike is those people who are always like "Oh, I love you!" but don't really mean it.

In my mind, actions speak MUCH louder than words, and they always have.  If you tell someone you are sorry, I believe God calls you to genuinely mean it.  Same goes for if you tell someone you forgive them or that you love them.  If you don't have the actions to back it up, then the love isn't truly there.  I know I'm only 15 but God has shown me so much love in these past years that I know it is not something to be taken for granted.  I think that is the problem with today's youth.  We talk the talk, but very rarely do we actually walk the walk.

I think that fake friends and the misconception of love among teens is what has caused so much drama and division among us.  We say that we accept and love each other, but do we really mean it? In Jeremiah 1:5 it says "  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
   before you were born I set you apart;
   I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
God knew us BEFORE our parents did, and before our friends even did.  THAT is true love.  This whole "love sign" and paragraph long messages to people we barely know, let alone care about is not love. We will never truly understand the full love of God, and that's just the way it is.

However, you can try to get close to him and love the way He did by just looking in the Bible. See how he handled situations in everyday life while on this earth.  I know that things in my youth are topsy turvy right now, with drama and hurt and confusion.  But I also know that God has the ultimate plan for everything, and everytime something bad happens it is not meant to disappoint us.  It is to assure us that greater things have yet to come.  So even if kids aren't getting along and there are different sides in an arguement, whether we accept it or not we are ALL in this together.  No matter what our differences or hostilities we stand together as a nation for Christ, one that needs to grow and search for His love again instead of trying to find it in the opposite sex, popularity, and glory. 

1 Corinthians 1:10 "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought."

I pray that this really touched someone today, and have a blessed night :)

Standing Strong

Alot has happened to me in the past few years.  There have been tons of hurt and pain and suffering.  Sometimes I feel like with everything that has happened, I was too young to handle it, and too weak.

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. -Phillipians 4:13

Everyone starts to have crushes in middle school, but I never had a major one till 8th grade.  I had known this boy for about 3 years from church, and we went to youth together.  During this time in my life, I had a low self esteem and did not feel very great about myself.  My youth leader was always telling the girls "You are more beautiful than you know. You were created by an awesome God who loves you more than any man ever could." That cut me deep. Through all my complaining about my appearance and looks, He was there for me and continued to love me.

Summer came around and I began to forget about His love and power and the influence he had over me.  I came to youth one day and the guy I liked, let's call him Pablo, told me he liked me.  Okay so here's a little background on our relationship up until that moment...
1) We met each other at a church meeting and his mom worked at the hospital with my dad.
2) We hit it off amazingly and had so much in common
3) He became my best friend and the first person I would tell secrets to.
4) We had this incredible loving relationship where we would just build each other up through any hard time and tried to be an example to the younger kids.  It was sorta like a missionary and his wife, except we were only 14.

So yeah, he tells me he likes me, how beautiful, amazing, funny, and intelligent I am. Not to mention he told me I meant the world to him.  Then he kissed me goodnight.  After that moment in time I believe my world changed a ton. I couldn't eat or sleep and the next time I saw him, I told him I wanted to forget about that kiss because it was so sudden.

2 weeks later he decided a relationship wasnt worth destroying our friendship and a month later he went to  homecoming with my best friend, whom he had just met a couple months before.  That ruined my entire freshman year. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, not to mention my respect for myself compleltely disappeared. I wouldn't talk to him at youth or church for 5 months and I cried so often.  I blamed God for the pain I felt and the horrible things that had happened to me when in my mind, I had done nothing wrong.  Eventually Pablo came around and asked my forgiveness for everything that happened, but it would be a long time before I genuinely forgave him.

On and on he would lead me to thinking he liked me again.  I had no idea how to guard my heart. Every time I brought a girl friend to youth, he "fell in love" with them.  It tore my heart to shreds over and over again.

My problem was not that I had crappy friends, or that I was ugly or indesirable.  The major conflict going on with me was the fact that I had forgotten about the guy who loved me wayyy before I had ever met Pablo.  The LORD, GOD ALMIGHTY, who made the heavens, the earth, sun, moon, stars, animals, and everything in the universe loved me FIRST. He had taken care of me all my life, and protected me, and I had been selfish enough to forget about him.

"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. "
-1 Corinthians 13:4-7

This past summer, I went to this amazing place called Lake Phillpott for Camp Undignified.  It was the church's summer camp for our youth group and I was so ready to give my all for God and just be touched my his gentle mercy.  He went above and beyond my expectations that week.  I made great new brothers and sisters in Christ and I felt Jesus's love so abounding that it overwhelmed me to the point of tears. 

I guess through all of this, what I am trying to say is that God loves you SO much. You don't need a boyfriend or a girlfriend to make you content in life.  And just because something bad happens in your life, doesn't mean God loves you any less. He never gives you more than you can handle, and only wants to make you stronger in whatever you go through.  I had to learn many lessons in the past few years, but through all the pain God was with me, holding my hand.  The amazing part about all this though?  This wasn't a one time thing. God is still gonna be here for me till the day I die, and I'm going to continue to trust in Him and live for him so I can see him after this life.  We haven't got much to lose, so we should take advantage of the lessons God gives us and accept every challenge to know He made the ultimate sacrifice to make any mountain managable.

This was my first blog post, and I would like to thank Kendall Scott for inspiring me to begin one.  She is such a beautiful and wonderful reflection of God's love for me, and I have no idea what I would do without her.


 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13