Walking in Love

How else do I say it? Walking in love isn't all that easy!!!

For the past year now, I feel that God has been teaching me the impotance of "Walking in Love". Most of the time when I am conscious about this particular subject, it is right when I am in the middle of a conversation where I am running off at the mouth saying exactly what I shouldn't be... am I ringing any bells?
Roll with me for a minute... I am not saying that I am a gossip or even a back stabber. I try very hard not to get involved in conversations that rally around those sort of things. I am just saying that sometimes I wrap my mouth around a thought that goes too far. In the end, there are names mentioned and opinions stated that maybe shouldn't have been.
I think it's fair to say that girls can get a little out of hand where chatting is concerned and although I consider myself to be a little less chatty than most, I do have my fair share of regrets in this department. I am reminded of what Paul writes in Romans 7:15 " I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate, I do it." I so understand what he is saying here. After I over do things in conversation, I usually go through a time of beating myself up and then make determined statements that I will never open my mouth in public again. It's never very long before I find myself in another conversation, saying things I shouldn't be saying... AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN! It's a vicious cycle, and I don't know if it ever ends.
There is a part of the love walk that I tend to over look. When I think about all the things I shouldn't be saying, I am overwhelmed because I know that I can never not say everything. And although I am not giving myself carte blanche to just say whatever I want to say, I am suggesting that maybe I'm going about it all wrong. Instead of focusing all my efforts on what not to do and say, I will choose to walk in love toward others when they say what they shouldn't say and there is plenty of opportunity for me to do that. hehe
Recently, I was made aware of a series of things that were said about me by people who obviously got caught up in their feelings and said some things they probably shouldn't have. On any normal day, I wouldn't think twice about being angry toward them and holding a grudge. However, with the help of the Holy Spirit, I chose to forgive them and found it to be quite liberating. I was able to be friendly with them instead of being tormented by a feeling of betrayal. I have to be honest and say that it wasn't the easiest thing to do...at first, but after a while, I really saw that forgiving them was the best thing I could have done. Besides, how selfish of me to think that I could hold anything against someone else when I too need a little grace every now and then.