A wonderful beginning to our home-school year, along with some chiseling, we dug deep into God's word as HE revealed our hearts to us.  We started our venture here:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

v4  Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  v5  does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; v6  does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  v7  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  v8  Love never fails.

We continued with 1 John 4:8:

Jesus proclaims in John 10:30 "I and My Father are one."  Therefore, JESUS suffers long and is kind; JESUS does not envy,...

We substituted the word "love" for "Jesus," and we learned some wonderful truths about Jesus.   "Jesus does not seek His own,... Jesus thinks no evil,... Jesus never fails."

The children liked the connection, but we're not done quite yet with these bridges...

1 John 2:6 explains that we, as believers, "ought to walk just as HE walked."

"Therefore," I explained to my children, "I should be able to put my name in the place of love.  After all, I do want to walk as Jesus walked."

I reread 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, using my own name in the place of the word "love:"

"KATY suffers lo... no, that's something I need to work on. KATY is kind.  Sure, I try to be...well, not always.  KATY does not envy...whoa!  Oh my!  I do envy!..."  The entire passage honestly revealed more and more of my heart.  Meanwhile, the children are enjoying my confessions.

"Who wants to go next?" To my relief and surprise, they all did.  One at a time, we read our own names aloud:  "ANNABELLE suffers long,"  "ALEX is kind,"  "ANSLEY does not envy,..."  Without offering any defense, they all admitted their shortcomings, with faces not of defeat, but of revival!  We were all fueled by God's truth, because He showed us our hearts. 

I was surprised at God's hands in their lives this morning, and then humbled for forgetting the power of His words.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, we were chiseled. 1 Corinthians 13 will be our compass for the month of August.  Revived, revealed, and grateful, stirred to obey, so that we, like Jesus, will reflect love.