THE NEW EWE
THE NEW EWE"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"
Luke 15:4-6
June 18, 2025
LIFE
IN THE FOLDA scripture that has been on my mind for the past few days is Matthew 22:37-39. "Jesus replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Who is our neighbor? It's not just those living next door, or our family and friends, but it's every person that we come in contact with. It's not just those people whom we like, but those that rub us the wrong way that we don't really care to be around.
There is a lot in our society that shows what love isn't. But there isn't a whole lot that shows what love truly looks like. Perhaps the best greatest explanation of what love is and isn't is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Here are some of the things we can learn from that chapter.
The chapter begins by saying, "If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing."
Those verses seem to be speaking specifically to the church... to the believers. We can be spiritual -- having faith, gifts of the Spirit, having knowledge, give everything we own away to the poor -- but if we are doing it without love, then we are just a loud noise. We would boast about our actions: "Look at me and what all I do!" But we would be nothing, if there is no love.
The chapter continues: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand it's own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
Wow! If only people could grasp hold of these verses and put them into practice, regarding love.
So why do so many struggle with this? I believe it goes back to Jesus' words in Matthew. First we have to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind. All!! Not just love Him when things are going our way, or when it's convenient, or when we need help; but love God with everything within us, every hour of every day, regardless of what is happening in life. In order to truly love others, we have to first love God.
If not, then we are trying to love in our own strength, which means we will love as long as others agree with us or don't offend us or act as we think they should. It's a selfish love, where we make up our own guidelines about who we do and don't love.
Not only do we have to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul and mind in order to truly love others, but Jesus said to love others as we love ourself. If we don't love ourself, then we aren't going to be able to be able to love others well. Perhaps that's the problem: we don't really love ourself, so aren't capable of loving others very well. Perhaps how we view ourself is how we will tend to view others.
If we are critical of ourself, finding fault, not liking what we see when we look in the mirror, unforgiving, constantly condemning ourself, etc.... then those same attitudes will be generated towards "our neighbor". We have to love ourself, know our identity in Christ, see ourself as our Father sees us, and have a great love and respect for ourself -- and again, that comes from first loving the Lord our God with everything within us. We can't do that on our own.
Let's do better! Let's be better! Let us all put the verses in Matthew and 1 Corinthians into action. Love God, love others, and love ourself!
JON'S
PERSPECTIVE:This brings up a huge controversy these days. Many people say we should love our neighbors. And since everyone is a neighbor, we should love everyone. Jesus even said that we must love our enemies.
So how should we feel about someone we think is showing hatred for us? Love them. Or someone showing hatred to a stranger? Love them.
And how should we feel about someone who refuses to hate the person we think is hateful? Love them, too.
That all seems so simple. But there have been a startling number of people saying the opposite. They say that everyone should love everyone, but if you don't hate x because of his/her attitude, then you are a terrible person and should be hated, too.
Wow... To me, this seems like such twisted thinking. How can you love everyone, but insist on hating someone? It can't be. Either you serve love or you serve hatred. We can't have two masters.
ON
THE MENEWE:Tips for frying yellow squash:
Cut the top and bottom off the squash -- no need to peel; just cut off any spots that may look bad.
Slice the squash in a lidded bowl.
Break an egg over the squash. Put the lid on the bowl and shake to coat.
Add yellow cornmeal mix (amount according to how much you are making). Shake again, to coat.
Heat oil in a skillet until hot.
Put off of the coated squash in the pan and fry, with lid on. Stir as needed.
(Note: I like the squash browned and a little crunchy, so find that a cast iron skillet works well. But really, any skillet will work.)
THIS,
THAT AND THE OTHER:Today is a big day for us! It's our 20th wedding anniversary!
Compared to many, our wedding was relatively small; but it was exactly what we wanted. The most important thing to me was that I was marrying my sweetheart and the man whom God had placed in my life! Other than that, the other important things to me was to have daddy walk me down the aisle, to have family and friends there to celebrate with us, and to not go in debt for our wedding. Mission accomplished! The most important people in our lives were there to celebrate with us. It was a beautiful start to a blessed life together!
THOUGHT
TO PONDER:Don't worry that you're not strong enough before you begin.
It is in the journey that God makes you strong. - TobyMac
OUR
HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:We love you!
Loretta & Jon