Not that I had any doubts, but Bible study last night confirmed the confirmation that love is the theme for this year.
We're doing Loving Well. Which sums it up right there. I want to learn to love well this year. I want to get to a year from now and look back on 2011 and say with honesty, "I loved well this year."
And the first session of Loving Well just confirmed that. Again. And gave me a clearer picture of what that looks like.
Here are a couple of things I jotted down (not enough room in the journal that goes with the study--need a separate place to take notes!) while watching session 1 last night:
Growing in Christ means growing in love.
Am I getting more loving?
Transformation should be seen most clearly in love.
God measures maturity by how we love.
Am I loving more than I can? Beyond my ability to do so?
And then there was this definition of self-love that cut deep because it's so accurate:
"the undue sparing of self with the primary concern that things be easy or pleasant for oneself"
The journal questions this morning just added to it:
Do I love others better than I did five years ago?
Am I growing in my ability to love others more openly, with more vulnerability?
What marked change or transformation has come about in the way I love?
I must say, it took me a while to answer those questions. I want to be brave enough to be honest, to have the courage to have God reveal to me the actual state of my heart.
***
Are you starting Bible study again after the Christmas break? What are you doing?
I am starting corporate Bible Study toward the end of January. We'll be doing Beth Moore's study on Revelation, Here and Now...There and Then. But I also began a new personal Bible Study on Jan. 1 using Our Daily Bread Devotional Journal. It has the familiar short reading, but it also includes space to write the Biblical Truths, Personal Application, Prayer Requests, and Answers to Prayer on the page. I am so enjoying being in the Word and studying it this way.
Posted by: Paula | January 04, 2011 at 10:09 AM
I just bought Living Beyond Yourself and am planning to work through it on my own. My word for this year is serve (with an underlying theme of being really "here" - wherever I am). I'm thinking a foundation and reminder of the fruits of the Spirit is more than timely.
Posted by: stephanie | January 04, 2011 at 02:03 PM
It must be a God-thing! At our church, this year we have begun what we are calling "The Love Project." We are being encouraged, each of us, to be intentional in loving God, loving the Body of Christ, and loving our neighbors. This week we are also encouraged to memorize 1 John 3:18 - "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." I'm like you, I would like to be able to, at the end of the year, say: "I was more intentional in loving.
HUGS...
Posted by: Christie | January 04, 2011 at 02:30 PM
Yep in my morning Bible study we are doing
"Adventurous Prayer" and in my PM study we are doing "Experiencing God"
Posted by: Bobbie Jo | January 04, 2011 at 04:27 PM
We're continuing our study in Acts as the women's Bible study. On my own devotional is Unto The Hills by Billy Graham. I just finished Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. I love hearing what everybody is doing; it helps to come up with ideas for when this study is over.
Although I am feeling behind on having a word for the year....I haven't thought much about the year ahead. Been living very day to day for now. I like the idea of reflecting and setting a course but it's not looking promising for the new year.
Posted by: Kathleen Jaeger | January 04, 2011 at 04:31 PM
Instead of doing a spring and fall Bible study, the women's ministry teamed up with the men's ministry and encouraged everyone to join in reading The One Year Bible (NLT). The response has been amazing. We will meet 2 times per month on Sundays from 5:00-6:15p.m. for accountability and small group review and discussion. But the LOVE theme is definitely my deal this year!!! I worked on memorizing all of 1 Cor. 13 (the Love chapter) in Nov. and Dec. for my birthday present to Jesus on Christmas day. Now that I've got it in my head, I'm sure He wants me to put it into practice from my heart in 2011!!! And our Women's Ministry Prayer Retreat is in 2 weeks and our theme is LOVE THE LORD. BE THE LIGHT. (from Mt. 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.") So I wholeheartedly concur that Love is the new black!!!
I know you are in the hospital right now so my husband and I prayed for you tonight. Love, joy and peace, Dana Goodwin
Posted by: Dana Goodwin | January 11, 2011 at 09:21 PM