Love Looks for Good Things

Last month we finished up our women's study and we had prayed about starting a study of Women in the Bible. My first instinct was to study someone we know well and go with it the first month( as we decided on a book).
Then I began to look around in the Bible and started to read about unity and how important unity is to a church especially a church plant without a large established group of members.
Well I couldn't really get peace with that and then I prayed and decided we would just have a time of sharing ... you know what each person is dealing with and a time of prayer.
Then I decided we should have a devotion first with the scripture that says whatever is lovely whatever is true, think on these things.... so me not being the Bible scholar went to find this scripture and what do you know that it follows the whole unity scripture on the two women who had a disagreement that affected the whole church.

So  after reading the whole chapter 4 of Philippians, I realized the encouragement Paul was giving. 

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (v. 7). With confident prayer, we can have inner peace. Even if our immediate circumstances are in turmoil,  we can have a peace that by the world's  standards doesn’t make sense. But our faith is in Christ, not the circumstances of this world.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things" (v. 8). If you want inner peace and interpersonal peace, then think on good things. Love looks for good things, not bad (1 Cor. 13:5-6). If you have a problem with someone, look for whatever is true and good and praiseworthy. Give your problems to God, and you will find peace.

"Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you" (Phil. 4:9). Paul again appeals to his own example among the Philippians. He tried to live the gospel as well as to share it, and he encourages the readers to do the same.

We are bound together as family by the Blood of Christ. We don't have to just tolerate each other like that weird aunt or uncle, but we are commanded to love no matter how uncomfortable you may feel.

We have to love, we are commanded to love and forgive and have a forgiving heart, because God forgives us.

My prayer is that God will help us love even the(in our opinion) unloveable.
To do this and be in a good place, meditate on the good, look for good, be happy for others and their good fortune, do what is noble, and God will bless you, God will help you and your heart will be in a place where God can use you for his Good!!!