One of the first symptoms of my Leukemia was excruciating back pain that was caused by the cancer cells creating so much pressure in my bone marrow cavity. The cancer cells had moved in and multiplied to the point there just wasn’t room for the healthy cells to grow. The same thing happens in our lives and our ability to love.
Unlovely things take our attention, our time, our energy, and frankly our bank accounts. These activities which have gained prominence in our lives call attention to themselves with a terrible noise like a clanging cymbal so that we cannot help but pay attention to them. And we don’t mind because we so often enjoy these distractions. Maybe there is nothing wrong with these time and energy consumers, but the amount of time and energy they consume is sometimes extraordinary and like cancer, they push out the room needed for love to grow and be expressed.
If you have spent an afternoon learning to use yet another new ‘smart’ phone, or catching up on Facebook, or whittling down the hundreds of emails in your Inbox, you know what I mean. Or maybe it’s idle reading or TV or sports that fills up your time schedule. The question is: “to what extent do these things add value to my life and contribute toward my life goals and those I love? And to what extent do they limit my ability and time to express love, to write an encouraging note, bake some cookies for someone, visit someone?”
It’s never too early or too to late to declutter and do “spring cleaning” of your daily activities. maybe you’ll find time to show others the love God has given you to share. Make room for love to grow in your heart and overflow onto others around you today.
First Corinthians 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.