Are you love????

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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.

I love this verse and read it often as a reminder of how I should live my life...
Love is patient is one of the hardest for me, I have been deemed the mother of impatience, when I want something I want it NOW, if not yesterday:) I work each day at being patient, when I begin to fail at this I take a moment, and say in my mind...love is patient, love is patient, love is patient, it is not in my time it is in God's time, love is patient, love is patient, love is patient...
Love is kind is one of the easier ones for me, I live KIND, I think that if our world would take a moment and be kind that much of the angst and woe would disappear, I find that it is much easier to be kind from my heart than to carry drama and stress around all day long, it is much easier to catch a bee with honey than with vinegar is what I have always been told! 
Love does not envy, another of my downfalls, I do not envy material things, for I know they cannot go to heaven with me, I cannot drive there, my belongings are just that, belongings, but I do envy people that I see walking so closely with our father in heaven and our savior, I do long to be more like them....I long to be more Christ like, I awake each morning and ask God to help me be more like Christ, I slip many times during the day, but I am getting better:) 
Love does not boast,  I am love in this matter, I have never been a boastful person, I really do not enjoy being around those that are. I am pleased with my achievements but give all of the thanks to God for blessing me with my abilities and for nudging me forward. A person that brags, in my eyes, is a person that suffers much insecurity and needs constant validation! 
Love is not proud,  I never knew this was an issue until I joined the LDS church, all of my life I had said the phrase, "I am so proud of you" I was told very early in the church that love is not proud...thus I had to change the way I said things, I still have not figured out the meaning of this one, but as a sign of respect I say, I am much pleased, I am pleased etc... but in looking at the definition this phrase goes hand in hand with the world "proud"

Love is not rude, I am doing right by this one, I may be called many things in my daily walk but rude will never walk in my shoes, it will never be a part of my make up, I do not like rude, I will not tolerate rude, to me...RUDE is RUDE:) 

Love is not self seeking,  I score on this one as well, I am on the opposite end of the scale, I have always tended to put others ahead of me, have alway taken the back seat in life so that someone else can ride up front. My bishop once told me that I would never be a rich woman as I gave everything I had away. Is this not the way we should be, not saying to take your clothes off or not pay your bills but are we not here to give and to share? 

Love is not easily angered,  I am still very much a work in progress with this one, I watch the news and I become angry, I see little people being hurt, being beaten, being abused and I get angry. I sit and listen to the news and hear of the political unrest that is taking place and I become angry, I see people being greedy, I see people taking advantage and I become angry.....so this being said, I still have a lot of work to do in this area, I cannot shut my eyes and ears off to the world thus these events are always going to be in my zone, so I must pray and ask God to soften my heart. 

Love keeps not record of wrongs, I see this one so often, I hear the "he said/she said" I see people going back years and years in arguments or to prove points, my motto has always been "let it go" work through an issue, come to an understanding, an agreement, and then like dirty hands, wash them and let the dirt go down the drain! "LET IT GO" when we pray for forgiveness, God forgives us, he does not sit there waiting to throw it back in our faces when the mood fits, if he, our Father in heaven can forgive then who are we to hold on? 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, I do not delight in evil, I am saddened when I see evil, I would rather be hit with the truth in every situation of my life than have evil around me, take a good look around, there is much more evil than truth, we must hold fast to the hem of God on this one, satan tries in all things to drag us in, he is right there just waiting for you to slip...NAY, NAY, NAY...

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, I work hard at these four, as for trust, I do trust wholeheartedly, sometimes to a fault and I wind up getting hurt, I have always given the benefit of the doubt and have always trusted, many times in life I have found that people really take advantage of a good situation but there are many also who honestly lay down in humility when given trust. I will continue to live in this matter how I have as I know there is goodness in all and sometimes it takes a little deeper digging to find it. I am each and every step of my life filled with hope, if I did not have hope I do not think I would be alive, my life is based on hope, the hope that we as Christians will lift our heads and really start living as God wills us to, I have great hope for our country and for mankind as if we walk as examples of Christians it will catch on, it will become contagious and we will have won against satan! I do not always persevere, there are times when I fall down and am ready to throw in the towel and quit, but there is always a hand extended down to me, willing me to get up, helping me to stand on my own two feet and try again, as long as I have a relationship with God, my father in heaven, that hand will always be there and I will continue to take it:)

So I ask you now, "ARE YOU LOVE" I say that I am...but I have not mastered it as of yet, SOOOOO, I will continue my journey in the quest! 

Love to each of you this day, may it be a day filled with joy and laughter and my you be "LOVE" today:)