40 Days of Building Relationships with God's Love

Jean Versey, part of the core planning team and small group leader, shares some personal insights.

Several months have passed since Kathleen first asked me if I would assist with the organisation of the 40 Days Campaign, which so many in the corps have just completed. It was a journey which would look in depth at the ‘love chapter’ found in Corinthians 13, not only on a Sunday, but also in our daily readings and weekly small group sessions.

Whenever we go on a journey there are always preparations to make and this was to prove no exception.

It is nice to get to know the people we are travelling with and challenge no.l  for me was putting names to faces. As we allocated people a group and handed out the books I began,   with a lot of help from Allister, to discover who was who. Realisation quickly came as to what a mammoth task our officers have in trying to get to know everyone in such a large congregation of people.

Over the past six weeks I have had the privilege of meeting with two very different groups each week and as we have got to know each other better, studied God's word and discussed the DVD I believe we have all learnt from each other and benefitted from sharing together.

Each week we have tried to commit a scripture verse to memory. Some found this much easier than others.
 
Week 1: Let love be your highest goal. (1 Corinthians 14.1)
Week 2: Do for others what you would like them to do for you. This is a summary of all that is taught in law and the prophets. (Matthew 7.12)
Week 3 : For where you have envy and selfish ambition there you find disorder and evil practise.(James 3.16)                                 
Week 4 :  Pride leads to arguments; those who take advice are wise. (Proverbs 13.10)                                                             
Week 5 : Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. (1 Peter 2.17)                                                                     
Week 6: A gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger. (Proverbs 15.1)                                                               
 
The following are just a few of the points raised and discussed over the past six weeks:

• Love. Unconditional love will cost something to the giver.
• Choices. You can't control what others do but you can control how you respond.
• Envy. A definition of envy is resenting God's goodness in the lives of others while ignoring God's goodness in our own lives. Are we guilty of always wanting what someone else has?
• Pride. This can be good or bad. Let's keep it how God wants it - the chin and head up, not our nose!
• Respect. Think of others. Love is not self-seeking.
• Anger. For consideration: every minute you are angry you lose 60 seconds of happiness. Is it worth it?

Response to the campaign was greater than we had anticipated and we soon had to order extra books. Over the six-week period more than 170 people have been meeting in 16 different groups, with ages ranging from 13 to over 90. A further 20 have been following the daily readings. Every group will have been different and God will have challenged people in different ways.

I believe we, as a group of God's people, now face our biggest challenge yet. It's time to start the next part of the journey. How are we going to respond to what we have learnt over the past 40 days? Are we ready to live by following the example of Jesus? Jesus was always interested in others and put their needs before his own. What he did, he did out of love.

Finally, attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?