La Cherité - A Midwinter's Love

Ire Épitre aux Corinthiens 13:4-7

La charité est longanime; la charité est serviable; elle n'est pas enviuse; la charité ne fanfaronne pas, ne se rengorge pas; elle ne fait rien d'inconvenenant, ne cherche pas son interêt, ne s'irrite pas, ne tient pas compte de mal; elle ne se réjouit pas de l'injustice, mais elle met sa joie dan la vérité.  Elle excuse tout, croit tout, espere tout, supporte tout.

If I have a favorite thing about winter it's the annual two hours we spend as a family making Valentines for each other.   For two hours the chaos comes to a calm and there is some serious L-O-V-E flowing between us.  It is very endearing.  Even Big Daddy get's into it and customizes each of his Valentines.  It's his one surge of creativity, we don't know where it comes from but it won't appear again until next year.  

This year our love notes were placed on the kitchen Christmas 
garden tree.  We took off the ornaments after New Years and replaced them with miniature galvanized garden tools and dried hydrangea.   After we take down the Valentines Aidan had the idea to clothes-pin last year's seed packets the tree.  My little buddy.  I can't bare to take down the tree because of how much I love that blue concrete that it's in.  The lights are still a cozy touch on these horrid, gray days even though the holidays are thankfully well behind us.

I am humbled by what God's word says about love.  Though apparently never humbled enough.  Every other minute I fall pathetically short whether it's my horrid, selfish attitude or failing to love others the way they need to be loved at any given moment.  The description is telling us how we are to love each other but we mustn't forget that is is more importantly telling us how God in fact loves us.  

I fall short every day in loving the way he tells me to and yet because of his Son Jesus He loves me anyways.

THAT is Love.

C'est la Cherité.

Happy late Valentines Day.

I'd love to know how you and yours are passing the time until the grass begins to show.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

It's Friday... But Sunday's Comin'

For the fourth year in a row...

Can't break with tradition.

It's Friday...

Wait for it...

Everyone has come down with a cold in the Parisienne Farmhouse this weekend.  

Alas, we won't be attending church this morning.  (Unlike so many I choose whenever it's at all possible to NOT infect the rest world when we are sick!  Grrrr.....)

So, in case you are missing service too I just HAD to share this with you! 

 I love this preacher.  He has such a passion - look how excited he is about God's creation.  This is just so cool and creative... you're gonna love it.

Yes, you need to watch the whole thing.  

The sun is shining! Have a blessed day!

Pray for Youcef!

"For I am NOT ashamed of the Gospel of Christ!..." Romans 1:16

Ladies. 

Pray for Youcef and his family.  He may be executed as early as today for his faith in Christ.

Unreal. 

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/09/28/iranian-pastor-faces-execution-for-refusing-to-recant-christian-faith/

Oh Crap.

Well it happened again.

I was tinkering around on Mars Hill (Seattle) and The Resergence... clicking here... clicking there... when...

SMACK!

A heavenly two-by-four... written just for me.

Frighteningly so.

Cut and pasted here for you in case you needed a figurative "b ---- slap" too.

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. -- Proverbs 31:10

I often believe my husband has not found an excellent wife. When he tells me I have been short with him lately, overreacting and snapping unneccesarily, I am discouraged at my lack of excellence. Impatience and disrespect have brought embarrassment to him on several occasions.

My task-oriented, performance-driven heart attempts to fix itself by making a list: An excellent wife cooks with organic food (not Velveeta), sews her own clothing (or at least irons her husbands shirts!), speaks only words dripping with grace (and not sarcasm) and reads her Bible for hours on end (okay, minutes?!)).

The list brings more condemnation; concrete evidence that I cannot be an excellent wife on my own.

 Forged not Found

While all of these things can be signs of excellence, they are definitely not requirements. Turning to Scripture for comfort and conviction, I am reminded: An excellent wife is not found but forged. No man goes out and finds a woman that is pure wife perfection and marries her. Neither of them truly know what that even looks like yet!  

“

It is the character of God, and not our husbands, that can be fully and firmly trusted. Our core identity must be anchored in Christ alone.

”

A godly woman becomes an excellent wife as she understands she is made in the image of God, re-made in the image of Christ and formed over a lifetime of repentance and redemption. Excellence is not measured by a to-do list; it is manifested in the life of a wife who knows Jesus intimately.

Bringing Shame

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. --Proverbs 12:4

When I humbly and honestly assess the times I bring my husband shame, I am sobered by its destruction. To bring rottenness to his bones means mine are already disintegrating with unbelief and bitterness. We bring shame as wives when we:

1. Focus on our husband’s sin
2. Think our way is better, prioritizing ourselves over him
3. Speak harshly to him or derogatively about him to anyone 
4. Withhold blessing, prayer, sex, or encouragement of any sort in an effort to punish, manipulate, or “get the message across”

The wife who brings shame to her husband is the daughter who does not truly know and trust her heavenly Father.

If the wife’s identity is centered around her man, she will certainly deliver shame when he disappoints – as he will inevitably do. It is the character of God, and not our husbands, that can be fully and firmly trusted. Our core identity must be anchored in Christ alone.

 Made Precious by Jesus

We are made precious by Jesus. This heart transformation is the basis for any preciousness that our husbands experience in us. It is not about what we do but what our precious Savior has done for us that graces us with the power to be excellent wives. We are helpless on own own.

“

Excellence is not measured by a to-do list; it is manifested in the life of a wife who knows Jesus intimately.

”

A godly wife understands that she is nothing outside of the saving grace of Jesus Christ and has no excellence apart from Him. Christ’s grace and love are precious to her. Fueled by his riches, she will become a glorious crown to her husband as she helps, nurtures and loves him from the depths of Christ’s righteousness in her.

It takes a 10 minute ceremony to become a wife.  It takes a lifetime to become an excellent wife – one who understands that Christ’s shed blood on the cross is needed to offer excellence to our husbands.

Green Beer???

Ok... so it's a little late in the day and this is pretty text heavy but I am quite a bit Irish and The Resurgence has a series on Vintage Saints I found interesting.   I learned quite a bit about St. Patrick in this post by Mark (O') Driscoll...

My family name was originally O’Driscoll until it was changed a few generations ago by relatives hoping to more fully assimilate into American culture after immigrating from Ireland. Though I was raised Irish Catholic, I knew virtually nothing about Saint Patrick other than the green beer, parades, shamrocks, leprechauns, and drunken Red Sox fans that celebrated in his honor every March 17th. Technically, Saint Patrick is not even a saint, as he was never canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Additionally, Patrick was not even Irish. Rather, he was a Roman-Britain who spoke Latin and a bit of Welsh. Patrick was born around 390 A.D. When he was roughly 16 years of age he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland on a ship where he was sold into slavery. He spent the next six years alone in the wilderness as a shepherd for his masters’ cattle and sheep.

Isolation

Patrick was a rebellious non-Christian teenager who had come from a Christian family. His grandfather was a pastor, and his father was a deacon. However, during his extended periods of isolation without any human contact, Patrick began praying and was eventually born again into a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ. Patrick endured the years of isolation in rain and snow by praying up to 100 prayers each day and another 100 each night. In his early twenties God spoke to Patrick in a dream, telling him to flee from his master for a ship that was waiting for him. Amazingly, Patrick made the 200-mile journey on foot without being caught or harmed to find a ship setting sail for his home, just as God had promised. The sailors were out of food for the journey, and after Patrick prayed a herd of pigs miraculously ran toward the ship, providing a bountiful feast for the long voyage home.

God Speaks to Patrick

Upon returning home, Patrick enrolled in seminary and was eventually commissioned as a pastor. Some years later God spoke to Patrick in a dream, commanding him to return to Ireland to preach the gospel and plant churches for the pagans who lived there. The Roman Catholic Church had given up on converting such “barbarians” deemed beyond hope. The Celtic peoples, of which the Irish were part, were an illiterate bunch of drunken, fighting, perverted pagans who basically had sex with anyone and worshiped anything. They were such a violent and lawless people, numbering anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000, that they had no city centers or national government and were spread out among some 150 warring clans. Their enemies were terrified of them because they were known to show up for battles and partake in wild orgies before running into battle naked and drunk while screaming as if they were demon-possessed. One clan was so debased that it was customary for each of their new kings to copulate with a white mare as part of his inauguration.

Unique Missionary Strategy

In faith, the forty-something year-old Patrick sold all of his possessions, including the land he had inherited from his father, to fund his missionary journey to Ireland. He worked as an itinerant preacher and paid large sums of money to various tribal chiefs to ensure he could travel safely through their lands and preach the gospel. His strategy was completely unique, and he functioned like a missionary trying to relate to the Irish people and communicate the gospel in their culture by using such things as three-leaf clovers to explain the gospel. Upon entering a pagan clan, Patrick would seek to first convert the tribal leaders and other people of influence. He would then pray for the sick, cast demons out of the possessed, preach the Bible, and use both musical and visual arts to compel people to put their faith in Jesus. If enough converts were present he would build a simple church that did not resemble ornate Roman architecture, baptize the converts, and hand over the church to a convert he had trained to be the pastor so that he could move on to repeat the process with another clan. Patrick gave his life to the people who had enslaved him until he died at 77 years of age. He had seen untold thousands of people convert as between 30-40 of the 150 tribes had become substantially Christian. He had trained 1000 pastors, planted 700 churches, and was the first noted person in history to take a strong public stand against slavery.

Roman Opposition

Curiously, Patrick’s unorthodox ministry methods, which had brought so much fruit among the Irish, also brought much opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. Because Patrick was so far removed from Roman civilization and church polity he was seen by some as an instigator of unwelcome changes. This led to great conflicts between the Roman and Celtic Christians. The Celtic Christians had their own calendar and celebrated Easter a week earlier than their Roman counterparts. Additionally, the Roman monks shaved only the hair on the top of their head, whereas the Celtic monks shaved all of their hair except their long locks which began around the bottom of their head as a funky monk mullet. The Romans considered these and other variations by the Celtic Christian leaders to be acts of insubordination. In the end, the Roman Church should have learned from Patrick, who is one of the greatest missionaries who has ever lived. Though Patrick’s pastors and churches looked different in method, they were very orthodox in their theology and radically committed to such things as Scripture and the Trinity. Additionally, they were some of the most gifted Christian artists the world has ever known, and their prayers and songs endure to this day around the world, including at Mars Hill where we occasionally sing the "Prayer of Saint Patrick" and the Celtic hymn "Be Thou My Vision."

Jesus on Facebook?

It's old news I know...

I really don't like Facebook.

Well, I guess I should say I hate how "young" people are addicted to it... I can see how it would be useful for me to stay in touch... but I can't add any more screen time to my life... that is, I couldn't until I saw this...

To my "high church" readers or those like me concerned with people/churches who try to make The Truth relevant to this culture... please find no offense... I think it's difficult for many to remember these were real people.  A YOUNG girl, pregnant, betrothed, unwed in an ancient culture, steeped in tradition and law... 

I loved this...I am in no way trying to reduce The Gospel to the Social Media... but check this out... darned if it didn't give me goosebumps.

The Jesus Storybook Bible... The Perfect Gift

I know there are some Moms and from what I gather LOTS of Gramma's that read Parisienne Farmgirl and I know many of you are out shopping and trying to think of something SIGNIFICANT to buy the little ones in your life that won't end up on next years vend du garage... well... allow me to humbly make a recommendation...

The Jesus Storybook Bible.

Gush alert.  

This little book has the power to change your household... and is it any wonder?... after all, it IS a Bible and God's Word "does not return void".

Now, we have a handful of Childrens Bibles around the house and we have used and enjoyed them but I have heard the rumblings about this children's Bible for over a year now... from two of my favorite "online pastors"  and it was even mentioned at a fantastic church I visited last week.  (I listen to the pastors podcasts and last Sunday everyone else around here was still in their jammies at 9 a.m.  and so I threw on some lipgloss and drove 35 minutes to this church I have been dying to visit.)  Anyhoo-

I am just diving into a book called "Christless Christianity" and I must say, I have no idea of the contents but the name alone is enough for me.   I don't think there is enough JESUS going on in the church today and I love the tagline of this children's Bible... "Every Story Whispers His Name." 

 So many adult Christians have little to no understanding of how Jesus is actually present in every passage of the Bible from Genesis and the ram God provided for Abraham, to Ruth and the love and care Boaz provided for her and on and on...  Well, what could be better than to help our young ones understand God's plan in sending Christ to the world this Christmas?

The Jesus Storybook Bible does just that and my chickens are addicted to it.  It's a gorgeous, well illustrated book that come with three CD's with WONDERFUL narration!  Aidan hangs on every word!   In fact, he has these last 10 days put aside his beloved hymns that he falls asleep to and now falls asleep to the Storybook Bible...  it's so cute.  But more than that... things are changing in my sons heart.  

You know children.  And if you really know children, you know they are not born innocent.  They are selfish, greedy, and think the world revolves around them.  Yes they are vulnerable and need protection but innocent?  The Bible says that "folly is bound up in the heart of a child"...  Aidan is "a good kid" but he is learning like the rest of us how to obey God (which, for a child mostly involves obeying Mom and Dad)... let me tell you... I can see the Holy Spirit working in his life.  He is sharing more, offering others the last portion of food he loves more... making things in the playroom for his sister more... when he asks for a second helping of food he offers me to finish what I am eating before I serve him... he is more encouraging to members of the family with his words... he is arguing less and when he does give way to sin and pitch a fit or stomp a foot in protest... a simple reminder of choosing to show his Momma and God love is just about all it is taking these last few days.  

I could NOT figure out what was bringing about these changes... until I remembered he has been "reading" his Bible every day and as he puts it "spending time with God."  

Oh, that I walked thru my life the next few weeks and people said, "She is more caring, she offers to help more, she doesn't just talk about herself on the phone..."  Oh that I spent more time in God's word... like my 5 year old son does.

If you have felt confused or frustrated in relaying the Bible to your children or you are just looking for something to snuggle up on the couch with this winter with your children or grandchildren may I highly recommend this little gem to you.  And, before you pass it on... go ahead and open the plastic and give a listen yourself.  

YOU WILL LOVE IT!!!

Here is a link to Zondervan where you can listen to clips and check it out for yourself.  The price at Zondervan is fair but you will find it a bit less at Amazon.com.

Psalm 23 From the Jesus Storybook Bible.

God is my Shepherd

And I am his little lamb.

He feeds me.

He guides me.

He looks after me.

I have everything I need.

Inside my heart is very quiet.

As quiet as lying still in soft green grass.

In a meadow.

By a little stream.

Even when I walk through

the dark, scary, lonely places

I won't be afraid.

Because my Shepherd knows where I am.

He is here with me.

He keeps me safe.

He rescues me.

He makes me strong

and brave.

He is getting wonderful things ready for me

Especially for me

Everything I ever dreamed of.

He fills my heart so full of happiness.

I can't hold it all inside.

Wherever I go I know

God's Never Stopping

Never Giving Up

Unbreaking

Always and Forever Love 

Will go, too!

"God Gave David that song to sing to his people, so they could know that he loved them and would always look after them like a shepherd loves his sheep.

And one day, God was going to do something that would inspire thousands upon thousands of new songs.  God was going to show his people once and for all just how much he loved them.

Another Shepherd was coming - a greater Shepherd.  He would be called the Good Shepherd. and this Shepherd was going to lead all of God's lambs back to the place where they had always belonged - close to God's heart."

Joie de Vivre - Drying Flowers

Half the delight in gardening is the joy of bringing the outside in.  I love fresh cut flowers and herbs but at this time of year I start to focus on drying my favorites so I can enjoy them tucked here and there throughout the house and hanging in the kitchen within easy reach during a recipe.

The key to drying flowers is space and light...

            Meaning as much space as possible for air to circulate and very little light...
  

 Don't underestimate what might look unique... this spring I enjoyed a droopy poppy stem, sans petals for weeks and the dried dill above is a recent unexpected favorite!

For best results trim as many leaves off as you can stand, hang your selection upsides down and wait paitently...

If cut at the proper time, most of the treats from your garden will retain their color.   Some things like Purple Globe Thistle and Lavender need to be harvested while they still have plenty of life to hold their brilliant purple...

Others like Hydrangea need to be cut only after their color begins to fade, or else they will shrivel... even so, drying Hydrangea is an art and you may need a little practice to get the results you are looking for...

After dry, your flowers can be used in a variety of ways.  I try not to get too "crafty" with mine, I have really been enjoying the large sprays that I have been selling at Parisienne Farmhouse and I have one hanging in my kitchen but for the most part I am prone to tuck a dried rose bunches here and there throughout the house.  Even a bouquet of lavender on the shelves in my linen closet brings a small delight each time I retrieve a towel....

Brining the outside in.
That's a bit of Joie de Vivre for me.
But the real Joie de Vivre?

The simple truth proclaimed in this old verse plaque that hangs with my flowers.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, it is not your own doing,

 it is the gift of God.

Ephesians 2:8

Bon Weekend Mes Amies!

Had I Known...

There are many areas of my life where sadly I can say, "Had I Known..."  and Motherhood is one of them.  Especially this aspect... 

My kids knowing my Grandparents... and visa versa.

I adore my Grandparents.  

 My memories of them are full, gentle, funny and warm.  For the first years of our marriage my Grandparents were our rock and our closest friends.  One afternoon years ago they called and invited us to go two steppin'... so, we hopped in the car and were two steppin' in Indiana 125 miles away from home by 8:30 that evening!  

That was 15 years ago.

They are older now.  

 And so are we.  

I remember placing Aidan in their arms.  He was one day old.  

I remember placing Amélie in their arms.  She was four days old.

This past weekend I placed Juliette in their arms.  She was four months old.

It brings me such joy to see how much my children love my Grandparents... and how much they love them.  Had we begun our family sooner my children would be older, they would have more memories of these wonderful people and perhaps they could have brought the smiles that they bring to my Grandparents faces a little sooner.

I love them so much. 

 I praise God that we know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that because of what Christ did on the cross for us that we will spend eternity together*!!! 

 That someday, though I can't even bare to think of it... but someday, when I miss them, 

it will only be for a little while.

Thank you LORD for your Grace.  

Thank you LORD for revealing your Grace to Grandpa when he was twenty years old so that we could all know You as we do today.  

(a great story we love to hear him tell!)

I love you Grampa and Gramma. 

 My heart aches with my love for you.

More than you will ever know.

* John 1:12, John 3:16, John 14:6, Acts 13:38-39, Romans 6:23, 

Romans 10:9-13, Ephesians 1:13-14, Ephesians 2:8-9

Upside the Head...

I am task oriented.
I am goal driven...
-and until recently I thought I had a real balance between my interests, goals, dreams, family...

You know I have said before that busyness is not a virtue... I hate busy people... people that are always running here and there...  it really irritates me... but I think I got a little self righteous... since my busyness takes place for the most part within these four walls...

I can be a workaholic...I love to work.  I don't mind relaxing but I have to determine if  have earned it or not... sick, I know...

Just as I was challenging myself today to DO MORE...

Bigger, better and most importantly FASTER...

I finally found some time to relax as I read blogs with my headphones on so I could review the songs I am singing at church tomorrow morning...  Ever the multi-tasker... just and only then did the Lord use one of my favorite BLOGS to slap me with a 2 x 4...

Ouch.  That hurt.

It's Friday but...SUNDAY'S COMIN'!!!

So, now it's a tradition.  

I know I posted it last year but for me, as I was explaining to a friend recently... this video says so much... about my love for Easter.  Jesus DIED for us!  He suffered for us.

Today is a day of reflection, somberness, and thankfulness and by Sunday, well by Sunday I will be jubilant.

It's Friday.  But Sunday's Comin'!

Here We Grow Again!

Les graines sont la!

Seeds are here!

Yesterday while the chickens were napping I threw my seeds in their little starter beds and said a prayer.  In years past I have fancied myself quite the starter but last year was a bust ( don't think I kept them warm enough) and I began second guessing myself asking everyone I could how they start their seeds, how to the keep them warm, do they use a greenhouse... I was freaking.

Ok...so it's not this...

Someday.

  But they are in, resting in the sunshine... soon to be... abundance.  

I can't wait.

And I can not believe that this will become...

this...

and this...

and this...

herbs...

Canned goods...

lots of hard, enjoyable work...

and many moments of serenity.

If you never have... let me encourage you to watch something grow.  Leave the fish emulsion and compost to us die hards but turn over some dirt and sprinkle some lettuce seeds...

Out of the dirt will spring forth life!!!

Just like we will celebrate this weekend.

Beautiful Christian Sister

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have
to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I
am not shouting that 'I am clean living.

I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and
forgiven.'

When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.

I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.

I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect.

My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.
When I say 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain.

I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,

I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

Today is Beautiful Christian Woman's Day.

Pretty is as Pretty does but, Beautiful is just plain
Beautiful..

Happy Valentine's Day

Genesis 29:20
So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days. (NLT)

Proverbs 5:19
A loving doe, a graceful deer—may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. (NIV)

Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs. (NIV)

Proverbs 13:24
Those who love their children care enough to discipline them. (NLT)

Proverbs 15:17
A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate. (NLT)

Proverbs 17:9
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. (NLT)

Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (NIV)

Proverbs 30:18-19
There are three things that amaze me—
no, four things that I don’t understand:
how an eagle glides through the sky,
how a snake slithers on a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
how a man loves a woman. (NLT)

Song of Solomon 1:2
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine. (NIV)

Song of Solomon 2:16
My lover is mine, and I am his. (NLT)

Song of Solomon 4:10
How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice! (NIV)

Song of Solomon 8:6
Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. (NIV)

Song of Solomon 8:7
Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned. (NIV)

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 13:1-8a and 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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.

Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. (NIV)

Ephesians 5:33
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (NIV)

Colossians 3:14
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (NIV)

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (NIV)

1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. (NIV)

1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (NIV)

1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (NIV)

1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (NIV)