The Greatest of These

I was reading "The Greatest of These" by Judith Bronte; and a quote from the book stood out to me: "As for what others say about me, all I can do is live my life in the fear of God, so that when others try to defame my name, those who truly know me, will recognize a lie when they hear one." That quote reflects my thoughts on how I live my life; and was something that I had to live out last year. I was constantly reminded that the only opinion that truly matters in life is God's; and that even if there are others who may say things about me that are negative and untrue, whenever it is out of my control, I can only be responsible for living my life for HIM and believing that the truth will someday be made known. The title of the book, of course, comes from the Love chapter in the Bible: "But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." -- 1 Corinthians 13:13. It's interesting that in my current class study in the book of Hosea with "The Love of God" series, I've had a chance to contemplate more about love. Truly, we are to live our lives 1) Loving God and 2) Loving others.