"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” -1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV
There are so many ways to show love and appreciation to those around us, and by doing so, to show love to our heavenly Father. We strive to serve in our roles faithfully, to be dependable, to teach and love our students well and to be good friends and neighbors to those in our community. We help friends in the valley with school fees or other material needs. Most of all, we seek to be transformed more into the likeness of Christ, and share His Good News with those around us. It sounds simple, and it is, but that doesn’t mean it is easy. We often fail, seek forgiveness, and try again. This is the heart of living in community: being willing to forgive, to seek forgiveness when needed and to keep loving those around us. February is a month when we think more about love, even though Valentine’s Day isn’t really a thing here. Here in Papua New Guinea it is almost autumn, not spring, and we are in the midst of our tropical rainy season, not winter. That didn’t stop our community from blessing our grade 11 and 12 students with an Arctic-themed banquet, though, complete with snowman, sledding hill, snowball fights and a rustic lodge! The students look forward to this event for years (for some, literally since they were in kindergarten) and the theme is always a closely guarded secret until the night of the event. It brings us such joy to see how much they enjoy this special evening, and they genuinely appreciate the fact that their whole community is involved in helping to make it happen. Loving God and loving others - this sums up our goal in life, no matter where the LORD calls us to serve. His Holy Spirit is ready to empower us to love those around us, regardless of how we feel. Loving God and loving others is the best decision you can make today!
