Repaying kindness – After a life of charity, she died without even money for a burial; now loved ones hope to raise enough for a service to pay respects – By MIKE TOLSON, HOUSTON CHRONICLE, Jan. 30, 2010, 7:21AM

If you have been in any Christian Churches, chances are you have heard the term “walking in love.” But what does it mean to walk in love? Where have we received the definition for it? And do we really know love? According to God’s Word, God IS love – 1 John 4:7-9 says:

See, the problem is that we have looked to the world and all that is in it for love that satisfies emotional and physical needs. We have watched movies and TV shows or read fictitious books that have tried to layout good love and romance scenes that definitely appeal to the emotions and flesh, but never seem to measure up in real life – why?

The truth about a real love walk – one that fits into a man and woman relationship or into walking in love toward other people – has no basis in emotion or flesh/physical. Real love starts when our hearts are changed and transformed by what God created love for – it’s why He is love! The great thing is that when you read about Sister Maggie’s life story, what jumps out is that she knew or at least must have know about this love walk that God has ordained for us because of the perfect example she set by her work. 1 Corinthians 13:3, says:

See, Sister Maggie could have done all the works that she did and gave all she had to take care of those less fortunate or needing whatever she had to give, but without love – the Love of God – I honestly do not believe we would have heard of her or seen this article. Why? Lack of love does not compel others to step forward and call to give a person like her a proper, respectful and paid in full burial. If she did all that she did and did not have love, no one would have done anything this respectful. The State or local government could have handled things and there would be no one there to pay respect to her – she would have been just another person that no one had anyway to contact family to let them know of her passing. But Sister Maggie was different! She had the Love of God! What does that look like? 1 Corinthians 13 goes on in vv. 4-8 to say:

Look at v.4 – it says, “Love suffers long and is kind….” The first step to walking in the Love of God is exactly where Sister Maggie would start – suffering long and being kind! Suffering many times is associated with dealing with the negative, but in God’s Word it means and comes from a root meaning to forbear or to have fortitude, being patiently enduring. What is the old saying…good things come to those that wait! And kind here really does not need defining, but God’s Word says that to be kind is to show oneself as useful in a manner or morals of goodness, gracious and being kind. The act of being patiently enduring and showing oneself as useful in a manner was exactly what was described here in Mike Tolson’s article. Its positive proof that Sister Maggie had the love walk working in her. And if she had this love walk working in her, then we know that it was God who was working in her. Why? Remember what 1 John 4 said? Well, if God is love, then it’s obvious that we could place God’s name everywhere in 1 Corinthians 13 that the word “love” appears – so it would read:

What wonderful Truth we receive when our hearts get full of this! When we realize that our loving, Heavenly Father is love and that He is all that 1 Corinthians 13 says He is, its hard NOT to walk in love toward anyone, especially if He lives in and through you, by the gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus, through the Holy Ghost! And look at the awesome, mighty promise, that we can ALWAYS lean on no matter what, in verse 8 – “GOD NEVER FAILS!” If He never fails and we have love in us, then He is in us! And that means we never fail! Sister Maggie never failed in her walk because she had love living in and through her. It was her calling and the calling of all those that are Christians!

We should be encouraged and take time to meditate on those things accomplished by God through Sister Maggie who was yielding and walking in the love of God. We do this by walking out and allowing God to perfect and deliver His love through us as detailed by 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. If you are a Christian, then just pray over yourself that the love of God, as designed by God and detailed in His Word, would work in and through you every day. As you do this the fruit of love will shine through in all that you are called to do. It all begins with the first step in your love walk.

And that is The Truth!
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Reuters News Article: Kathy Griffin’s Jesus remark cut from Emmy show

Proverbs 18:20-21 states:

The Book of Proverbs is not the only place that we hear this sort of instruction from God’s Word. Jesus had clear instruction about what you say as well in Matthew 11:23-24:

Now, I can understand that as Christians many people look at situations like this and state, “You Christians can be so prude. Can’t you take a joke? I mean, she is a comedian and is entitled to her own comments. What’s the big deal?” And for a portion of those comments, they are right. Each person is personally responsible for his or her own words and life, for that matter. They are personally responsible for their own beliefs. And they are definitely responsible for their own actions in everything they do.

What is clear here is that Kathy Griffin has used her platform of “worldly fame” to take responsibility for all those things. She has made it abundantly clear by the words out of her own mouth where she stands and what she believes. As the Word says in Proverbs 18:21-22, she is satisfying herself with the fruit or words she produces out of her own mouth. She is creating the very death or life that her life will live and consume. Be it a joke or be it a fact that she was serious about what she said, does not mean a thing. Notice that no where in these passages of scripture does God make place for people to have some gray area that He says, “Jokes are great and I’m so glad when they make fun of the greatest sacrifice I’ve ever had to make for people and individuals just like Kathy. Please continue to make jokes about the person who has The Life and The Way to me!”

Instead, what does Jesus say – the very person she clearly has claimed she will not worship and is no longer her god? In Matthew 11:23-24, Jesus says that if you have no doubt and unbelief in your heart and believe what YOU SAY, then whatever YOU SAY will be done. Sounds very similar to what the scriptures said in Proverbs. For us as Christian – as believers in Christ and in the Word of God – when the Bible mentions something in two or more places, then God must have been trying to get our attention regarding this topic, or otherwise He would not have spent so much time being redundant.

While what Kathy has stated may have been a joke, may have been something that she thought was a great idea to spark more media attention about her, may have been her way of poking fun at her beliefs, or whatever, the reality is that she allowed her words to produce life to something for her life. The fact that the power of death and life are in what you say should bring all of us to an awareness in the things we allow to come out of our mouth. It’s not enough to say, “Well, can’t you take a joke?” Back under the Old Covenant, people would be stoned for blasphemous talk such as this. But why? Because they offended people? No! Because the people of God understood the power behind a corporate agreement and in saying and believing the same as what God’s Word said.

While the power to create death and life can affect one individual, that same power, when released through words spoken, can create so much more. Words can divide or they can bring together. Words can give or they can take. So when we say that life and death are in what you say, you can quickly see that we must become more aware of the words we release into our life, our families, our church family and the world. Everyone and everything is listening. Will the rocks cry out and be louder than the voice of the righteous? Will the redeemed of the Lord say so? Or will the voices of death and blasphemy rule? If you have spent anytime reading the Bible and know what the “end” holds, you know the answer. What we must do as Christians is line up with that and be reminded to not side with talk like this and let the Truth of God’s Word prevail!

And that’s The Truth!
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