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Love is Like a Rose

“Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Love never fails: …”
1st Corinthians 13:4-8


True Love is like a rose,
springing from the earth
Which brings the field such joy,
to behold its beauty come to birth

Yet before the rose will bloom,
it brings forth a thorny stem
And if handled without care,
its thorns will prick just like a pen

And that which is so beautiful,
can sting with such sharp pain
Thus it must be let go,
and never viewed in vain

For patience shall have its perfect work,
as its petals develop and bud
And yet though it then seems touchable,
it's still developing the fragrance of love

So in patience it must be allowed to grow,
lest its growth be stunted and stilled
And its beauty then be marred,
and God's purpose for it killed

For only then will it begin,
to mature and bud and bloom
Unfolding to reveal such beauty,
releasing the scent of its fragrant perfume

And at last when it seems to be touchable,
God's lesson will have been learned
For now its petals are delicate,
and its thorns are so much sharper and firm

You see, true love just like the rose,
should never be mishandled or controlled
For true love is not a possession to grasp,
but it's the affections of a soul

Thus true love never takes its object for granted,
for their heart to be broken and crushed
For love is meant to be a life long experience
And that's the difference between true love and lust

Therefore it is only by faith and patience,
that true love's fragrance can abound
For God its Creator will bring forth its increase,
when we have learned to be still and sound.
© 1998 Raymond Bolton Pena

“From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:1-4

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2nd Corinthians 6:14-18

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine,
lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”
Matthew 7:6

Though these Poetic Contemplations are copyrighted,
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and as long as you copy them in their entirety
and include the copyright notice at the end of each poem
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