Frozen. Steaming.

It is on days like this that I am incredibly thankful I live in Midland, TX.  When I looked at the weather today I was in shock because my phone said -6!  Then I realized it was displaying the current temperature of Cookeville.  Sorry Mom and Dad!  It's still pretty cold here this morning (23), but warming up to a crisp 50 by the afternoon.  For those of you eastward--stay close to the fire!

If you haven't seen the movie Frozen, you are missing out.  Disney outdid themselves.  The music is great, the story is creative, and it makes you feel all warm and cozy inside.  The first lyrical song you hear warns against a frozen heart.  It's beautiful and very well done.  Go and listen to it.

So what does a frozen heart look like?  There are many reasons for one to become icy.  There are trials and hardships, unhappy experiences, and lack of love.  When it all boils down to it, a frozen heart is one without love.  I think it's easier sometimes just to cut someone off from your love once they've hurt you.  At a larger scale it's simpler to generalize a whole group of people to be cold towards after certain experiences.  It's our human logic to protect ourselves from things we don't understand or we are afraid of.  I think God calls us to be a bit more vulnerable than that.

1 John 4:8 tells us that if we don't love then we don't even know God.  What does that say about us?  The make up of God is love.  We have a need to love and be loved because we are made in the image of God.  When love is lacking there is an ever-present evil.  (Evil being the absence of good, good being God.)  So what do we strive for?  What is it that we must show to each person day in and day out?  I believe Paul made it pretty clear in 1 Corinthians:

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV)

At different points in my life I have struggled with pretty much each one of those descriptions of love.  I would like to say I have them mastered today, but I don't.  I strive each day to practice and they say practice makes perfect.

In this cold weather our hearts should be steaming.  I want to be on fire!