Let us BEE Love!

Hello sweet friends! I hope all has been well with you. In my last blog I shared a little about identity and being who God created us to be. I felt like God has laid on my heart to share my experiences and how I deal with them. There are two things for this weeks blog post that I have really felt I needed to share. The word Love and chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians!

Chapter 13 in 1st Corinthians has always held a special place in my heart. It is one of my absolute favorite chapters in the Bible!! I have been going back and forth about sharing the whole chapter on here because I feel like it is rather long. I just feel very strongly about sharing it even if it's just for me. It is such a special chapter. This is from The Passion Translation version, and I get wrecked by God every time I read it!

(If you want to skip to the next paragraph and pass over chapter 13, no worries one bit. I know it’s a lot <3)

Chapter 13 says "1If I were to speak with eloquence in earth’s many languages, and in the heavenly tongues of angels, yet I didn’t express myself with love, my words would be reduced to the hollow sound of nothing more than a clanging cymbal. 2And if I were to have the gift of prophecy with a profound understanding of God’s hidden secrets, and if I possessed unending supernatural knowledge, and if I had the greatest gift of faith that could move mountains, but have never learned to love, then I am nothing. 3And if I were to be so generous as to give away everything I owned to feed the poor, and to offer my body to be burned as a martyr, without the pure motive of love, I would gain nothing of value. 4Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when a blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate their importance. 5Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. 6Love joyfully celebrates honesty and finds no delight in what is wrong. 7Love is a safe place of shelter, for it never stops believing in the best for others. Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up. 8Love never stops loving. It extends beyond the gift of prophecy, which eventually fades away. It is more enduring than tongues, which will one day fall silent. Love remains long after words of knowledge are forgotten. 9 Our present knowledge and our prophecies are but partial, 10but when love’s perfection arrives, the partial will fade away. 11When I was a child, I spoke about childish matters, for I saw things like a child and reasoned like a child. But the day came when I matured, and I set aside my childish ways. 12For now we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteries as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face. My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood. 12Until then, three things remain faith, hope, and love—yet love surpasses them all. So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run".

I know that may have been long but it is so beautifully written on what love is! I have been praying on how to go forward with the identity blogs for this month and God just said "LOVE". There have been so many times that I did not love myself. There have been so many times I took God's love for granted, and there have been so many times I tried to find God's love in all the wrong places.

I have always been raised in a Christian household but just because I was raised in a Christian household does not mean that life didn't hit. My parents got a divorce when I was 12, my grandpa passed away one month before I turned 16. In high school I dealt with the thought of needing a guy to make me happy, I thought if I was in a relationship that I would feel loved. I struggled with my appearance, I had so much acne I thought I was ugly, I had so much low self-esteem. I always "wished" I could be cool and "popular", I did not do well in school unless it was reading or band. I struggled with people pleasing and being strong for others. After my 2nd year of marriage, I fell into a deep deep depression, having many not-cool thoughts of harming myself, and feeling so dark, angry, and bitter. I tried so hard to find love and peace through earthly things. But I found that those things did not show me the love of God. I tried to find my identity in being a "good wife', or a "good person", I even tried to find myself in others around me, in books, and on social media. Still, none of that helped me. I can't rely on what others think of me, or even my husband, parents, best friend, or boss. I can't rely on books, tv shows, the internet, or material things.

I can only find true peace from the LOVE of Jesus. I can only find my true Identity in the LOVE of Jesus. He died a very very cruel death for me, yet I know in my heart that He would die that death a thousand times over for me and you as well because He Loves us, He cares for us, and He thinks we are worth it! All the lies from the enemy and world are nothing, even being the most dedicated person who gives the shirt off their back is nothing without LOVE, and my dear sweet friends who are reading this right now this is who Jesus is. He is Love and all the things in 1st Corithians. When I accept and surrender all, then I become like Him and become Love. I can look at whatever the world throws at me and say " I am a child of the highest God! Who LOVES me and FIGHTS for me! No matter what!"

I have struggled to find the words to close this blog out with. God has laid so much on my heart and has been revealing so much this past week. I do feel like He is Love. I pray daily to be more like Him and less like myself. Like it says In John 3:30 “More of you less of me”. I want to be light, loving, and hopeful to others around me. But I can only do that by laying down the old Bre and surrendering all the anger, bitterness, fear, hurt, and disappointment. I know it is hard. I know how the darkness just closes in and you feel like you cannot breathe and all you want to do is give up. But God is saying, Nope..You are not giving up today my beautiful daughter or handsome son! We are in this life together and with Me nothing is impossible! (Luke 1:37).

As I close this blog out, I leave one final Scripture for you... Romans 8:38-39. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the LOVE of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord".

I hope and pray that something in this blog post touched you positively and was encouraging! I pray blessings and favor over you as you continue this week! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my posts and show love and support. I am so so grateful!