“I’m not a smart man…”

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“I’m not a smart man… but I know what love is”.

One of my favorite movies of all times is Forest Gump.  What a great character.  And what a great story.  But out of the whole movie, I want you to think about one line.

Jenny has come back from her adventures and Forest and Jenny were having a good time.  Then… Forest asks Jenny marry him.  She turns him down.  This was one of the ONLY times in the movie you see Forest get mad.  He tells Jenny, “I’m not a smart man… but I know what love is”.

Let’s look at that statement for a minute.  What is “love”?  One of the best descriptions I’ve ever read is in the Bible.

I Corinthians 13:4-5, 7 NKJV
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

If you look at this description of love, you’ll see that Forest truly loved Jenny.  No matter what Jenny did. 

We should be the same way with our brothers and sisters.  Not JUST our fellow Christians but everyone! 

I Corinthians 13:13 NKJV
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

And remember, He loved US enough to die for us.  That’s pretty big.

That’s a Whole Lotta Noise…

I was playing pool on my phone this morning and it got me to thinking.  About all the afternoons my brother, Danny (my best friend) and I would spend at Schoolfield Rec Center shooting pool.  It was free, so needless to say, we spent a lot of time there.

There was always a lot of trash talk.  Who was better and who would walk away with the most wins.  I know it is hard to believe but I was the worst.  So I’d talk a little trash and hit the cue ball as hard as I could when I was breaking.  Needless to say, it would make a LOT of noise.  Some (most) of the time not one ball would fall into a pocket. 

My brother’s response was always, “all that noise and for nothing”.

We can be the exact same way in life.  We may walk around talking about how “Christian” (we think) we are… or try to sing the loudest during worship… or even wear Christian themed t-shirts and such.  But are people seeing a reflection of Christ in us?  Are we showing love to our neighbors? 

Galatians 5:14-15 NKJV – “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!”

I Corinthians 13:1 NKJV – “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal”.

Let’s not be clanging cymbals.  Let’s love on each other.  Yep, including non-belivers.

(It didn’t say just love your Christian neighbor).