~~~LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS~~

-[1Corinthians 13:7/ RSV]

~~~MY HUSBAND Jason and I celebrated our thirty-third wedding anniversary over a long weekend in a little mountain town in the Colorado Rockies. On Saturday afternoon, we wandered into a gift store. In a jewelry case along one wall were some silver-and-gold rings. For years, I'd been wanted such a ring to wear on my right hand.

"Try one on," Jason urged. An hour later, we walked out of the store, with a bright and shiny silver-and-gold ring on my finger. "It's perfect!" I gushed to Jason. "Thank you!"

It wasn't until we were driving down the mountain toward home the next day that I spotted a tiny flaw in the ring, a pin-prick-sized hole in the gold on the front side. "On no," I moaned, showing Jason the flaw.

"I can hardly see it," he assured me. But all the way down the mountain, I stared at that flaw, and it seemed to grow bigger and bigger before my eyes. "I wonder if it was there yesterday and I just didn't notice it in my excitement?" I said.

For the next several days, I struggled with the imperfection in my ring. When I looked at it, all I saw was that tiny hole. -

"We'll just take it back," Jason finally told me, exasperated with my monomania.

His words made me realize that I had a choice: I could fixate on the flaw or focus on the ring's overall beauty. And with its tiny flaw, the ring was the perfect gift to celebrate the longevity of our marriage and remind me of a choice I face every day.
-ODB/CK

Sometimes as Christians, we too must realize that our focus should be on the Perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus never sinned, yet He died so we can have life eternally. "In all things give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" [Ephesians 5:20]
--"Love On The Line"--Hillsong Worship//<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foppLdmfdnY>
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