He who gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
Proverbs 16:20

Ever have problems paying attention to something? This is a common problem with just about everyone I've ever known. Many of us are avid day-dreamers who take excursions all over the world - or at least all over the recesses of our minds - every day. The problem is when distracted thinking affects how we approach and deal with God's Word and what the Lord is trying to say to us in our daily quiet time.

Today's proverb has excellent advice for those who want to be wise. Pay attention to what God is saying to you in His Word! That is the advice. Simple isn't it. Yet anyone who has ever had a quiet time go awry knows that simple in stating and complicated in obeying is the problem here. I've had quiet times where I spent the majority of my time turning down dog-eared pages in my Bible. I've had other ones where I will finish reading a chapter and wonder what is the world I just read. At other times I've been reading a chapter and been horribly distracted with thoughts poking themselves into my mind between every verse. All this can be downright frustrating at times!

Giving attention to God's word means that we do more than just read over it. The word for attention means to consider something. To place our entire attention toward it also is part of what this word means. Distractions are normal, but when they come we need to stop reading and deal with them. Otherwise we will be in danger of just reading over words - without truly paying attention to them.

Giving attention to the Word also means taking a little time to consider, meditate, and learn from it. I've been guilty in the past of just wanting to read a lot of the Bible - and not think on what I am reading. This particular blog was a way of battling that problem. Writing these posts have made me slow down and truly consider what a verse means. Consider keeping a quiet time journal where you can focus on one verse, or a few of them. That will help you pay attention to what God is saying to you.

The blessing that comes from this is that you will find good. The good that you will find is varied. Some days you will find a promise in God's Word that you can claim. Other days you will find instruction or teaching about some aspect of God or His will. On others you will experience rebuke or correction that will lead you away from a sin and back into sweet fellowship with the Lord. Still others will yield a fresh glimpse of God's glory and character that will blow you away or thrill your heart. There is so much good that comes from approaching the Word as more than just something to check off on your day. You need to approach it as you would approach Him - because that is exactly what you are doing!

There is another blessing that comes from doing this as well - and it is explained for us at the close of this proverb. You will be blessed because as you understand God's will and ways and person better - you will be able to trust in Him! When He gives a command you can trust Him to provide the power to keep it. When He offers rebuke or conviction you can trust Him to grant repentance and to lead you into freedom from the sinful action. When He offers hope or encouragement you can trust Him to bring you through the situation which has caused hurt or pain. There are so many ways that God can make you truly blessed as you have a fresh opportunity to trust Him and rely upon what He has said in His Word. May you be blessed indeed as you continue having daiily times alone with Him - as He speaks to you - as you pay attention - and as you are wonderfully blessed as He encourages you onward into every new day of trusting Him and seeing Him work out His will in your life!

He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof Will dwell among the wise. He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. Proverbs 15:31-32

If you want to be wise, you will have to learn the value of reproof and rebuke. That is a tough thing to do because very few of us take to these things at all. We are fallen creatures therefore a couple things are true of us. First of all, we usually think we are right. This creates a problem because we react with pride and defensiveness when we are rebuked and reproved. Second of all, we are rebellious. Therefore when someone offers correction our first response is to resist and resent it. But as we will see from today's proverb of the day, these things can really hurt us.

We dwell among the wise when our ear is open to "life-giving reproof." I am so glad that when God inspired this He made a distinction between life-giving reproof and other kinds of reproof. The difference between these two is that life-giving reproof is correction that is bent toward blessing us and offering us rebuke that will turn us away from sin and turn us to God who gives us life. To be reproved in this way turns us from our own way, the way of the world, and the way of destruction - which is how the devil will seek to offer us. Thus it turns us away from death and sin, and instead points us into the way of life - or said another way - into the ways of God. Regular reproof is correction based out of an idividual's preferences. Jesus was reproved . . . often. He faced Pharisees who rebuked Him for His teaching, His miracles, and the people He chose to hang around. People will reprove you for walking in the ways of God. This kind of reproof requires both understanding and discernment on our part. Just because someone reproves you, does not mean that they are correct in their reproof. That is why Solomon warns us only to open our ear to "life-giving" reproof.

We read in verse 32 of a person who neglects discipline. The word discipline means instruction that offers truth and a disciplinary rebuke or correction. Godly men and women offer discipline to us to bless us in the end. But the unwise man rejects it outright. When he does this Scripture tells us that he "despises himself." He hates himself when he does these things. The rejection of all discipline and moral limits will destroy our lives. You can easily see in a child who is a spoiled brat this danger. The child gets his own way - and is not corrected so as to learn wise and godly behavior. In the end this child will destroy himself with their selfishness and self-centered behavior.

The one who listens to godly reproof will aquire "understanding." The word here refers to the heart - or the inner moral life and compass that we need to have. When we listen to reproof and learn from it - our inner moral compass is set by God's standards. We learn right and wrong. We may simply respond to discipline by avoiding the pain of it at first. This is the response of a child who is spanked early on in life. The initially avoid the behaviors to avoid pain. But after a while the child, if trained properly, is also learning "why" they are not to do something. The process teaches understanding. The child learns from the wisdom of the parent that there are reasons to avoid the moral bahavior. This understanding will guide them and teach them that when discpline comes - it is from love that people offer it. When followed such wisdom will truly bless any man or woman who will take the time - and often the pain that rebuke often brings - to learn from it.

“Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, Waiting at my doorposts.”   Proverbs 8:34

Wisdom had regaled us with tales of creation and what it was like to watch and be a participant in the very creation of all that God has made.  We have seen from Wisdom's statements and from an examination of the world around us, that we can trust Wisdom and what God says to us through His Word.  Now we hear Wisdom calling us to be a listener - to be one who watches and waits for what God has to say to us.  Just as God has been true about His creation of this world - so He is now calling us to listen to what He has to say to us about life itself - and how to live it.

Blessed is the man who listens to me.  This is God's promise of happiness for those who listen - who heed what He has do say.  The word for blessed means one who is happy.  The happiness experienced is not a transitory happiness based on getting our own way and living for what we want to live for day to day.  It is a happiness at a much deeper level - more than happiness.  This is about a deep-seated joy that comes from knowing and walking with God.  It comes from knowing Him - and knowing His blessing in our lives.  But this blessing is conditional - it is for those who listen to Him.  We need to open our ears and more than that, our hearts, to what God desires for us.  There needs to be more than basic hearing.  Let me explain with a less than gracious example from my own experience.

I am a guy - which usually means there are times I have "listening" issues.  My wife is very gracious in spite of my listening disorder.  There are times when she is talking to me (come to think of it - I also have four daughters who struggle with this "lack" of mine as well) that she will pause and ask me if I am listening to her.  My response is to repeat the last sentence she has just said.  This is not amusing to her at all.  She did not ask if I heard words that she was saying to me - she wanted to know if I actually listened to her.  This, my dear fellow males, means was I listening for the purpose of furthering our relationship.  Was I listening so as to hear more than just words - was I hearing her heart.  If I had honestly answered that question I would have had to say no.  I was not listening - I heard some stuff - but I was not really hearing with understanding.  I was not hearing to have a relationship.  To put it in a way that maybe we can understand - I was not truly "getting her."  That would have required listening.  It would have required zeroing in on what she was saying with an intent to know what she said, why she said it, and respond in an intelligent and caring way that expressed that I loved her . . . more than the football game that I was currently watching.  (Wow - that was far more cathartic than I thought.)

God wants us to LISTEN to Him.  He wants us to do two things each day.  First He wants us to be "watching at His gates."  The "gate" was the place where important decisions were made.  This was serious stuff - because it was at the gate that the wisest and most influential men gathered.  God wants us to listen and watch for the really important stuff in life.  We need to watch for Him - because He will give us guidance on the major decisions and major life choices that we face each day.  But he also calls for us to be "waiting at His doorposts."  What a wonderful picture that this is.  The doorposts referred to the opening of the house.  This speaks of two things.  First it speaks of intimacy - of a relationship where we can talk about everything in life.  God tells fathers to talk to their children in this way.  He wants us to speak to our kids when we get up and go to sleep each day.  He wants us to talk to them about Him when we go out and come in.  He also wants us to write on our very doorposts the Word of God - so that is what we see when we go out and come in.  This is every day life - and the wonderful blessing of having a friend with whom we can talk when we are going through our day. 

The second thing this points to is redemption.  We wait for God at the doorposts of our house.  This was the place where every year the Jewish family would put blood for the Passover.  This blood was left on the doorposts overnight.  Over time the obedient Jewish family would wind up with permanent blood stains on their door frame.  But oh what a wonderful picture this is of how we wait for God.  Wisdom reminds us that we are God's people.  We are bought with a price - and we are redeemed.  When we wait for Him here - we experience intimacy - but we also are reminded that we are intimate because we are redeemed.

Wisdom calls us to walk with and know God.  This is done in every area of our lives.  It is in the big stuff - and in the little stuff.  It is in the huge decisions that will direct our lives - but it is also in the little decisions that set the daily course of where we will walk today.  The thing wisdom asks of us is that we listen.  That does not mean being able to quote Bible verses by rote - but not really know what they mean.  Listening means coming before God and hearing Him with a bent to know His heart.  When we do that - we will see that this is the true way to a deep abiding happiness that will last throughout a lifetime.

Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;
Proverbs 22:17

All throughout the book of Proverbs we have little sections devoted to calling people to wisdsom.  Here is another one.  From this verse all the way through verse 21 we are called to give ourselves to the "words of the wise" as we walk through life. 

The call here is to hear what the wise are saying.  Something that we should realize is that as we walk through life God is going to bless us with those who are wise.  Unfortunately the cutlure of the west has turned from learning from the elderly - and thus has cut off from ourselves a wealth of wisdom and understanding in the process.  There is much to learn from someone who has walked through life many years.  If nothing else -we can learn from the fact that they've faced things we have not - and that they are failed at things and learned form their mistakes. 

The call is to incline our ear and hear these words.  This is in some ways a call to humility.  We have to submit ourselves to their words if we are going to learn anything.  If we think that we are the fountanhead of wisdom itself - we will be too arrogant and too apt to "lean on our own understanding" to listen to what someone else has to say.  There is much to simply learning to shut one's own mouth and hear what others have to say.  That is why God admonishes us through the book of James to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.  The wise old saying goes that God gave us two ears but only one mouth.  By this He is saying that we need to listen twice as much as talk.  That one thought alone, if adhered to, would grant us a great deal of wisdom. 

The thing though that the wise old sage offers to the youth is that not only should he listen, but he shoud also apply himself to understanding what he has heard.  This is where a great deal of wisdom is gleaned.  We not only listen, but then later we take the time to mull over what has been said with a view to truly understanding it and applying it to the various situations that we face in life.  It is not enough just to listen - we must apply what we've heard as well.  This application process happens as we also truly seek to grasp the very root truth of what we've heard.  This means going to the level of the worldview that wisdom teaches us.  That worldview is one of knowing and valuing to the utmost what God has to say to us.  Wisdom is best defined as seeing things like God sees them.  This means that we take what we've learned from God not just as information, but as a framework to understanding everything in the world around us.  This is the way to wisdom - to see and to grasp things from God's perspective - and then to live as He would direct us.

"I have not listened to the voice of my teachers, Nor inclined my ear to my instructors!"   Proverbs 5:13

There are consequences for sexual sin in the lives of those who commit it.  These two verses in Proverbs chapter 5 relate to us what some of these consequences are for the immoral person.  What is fascinating is that these two things are not exactly on the what's what list for sexual immorality - and yet they are both problems that will come for those who practice this kind of lifestyle and choice in life.

It would be wise for us to briefly remember the context of these verses.  These are in the context of a father warning a son not to consort with prostitutes and with women who commit adultery.  The warnings are dire but are in no way hyperbole.  The things being said to this young man are true warnings and they contain true consequences for his actions.  This is why the one who commits adultery later laments that he did not listen to the voice of his teachers - nor pay attention of incline his ear to hear how they were seeking to instruct him.

There is very real ruin and disgrace that attends adultery.  Anyone who has watched a marriage and a family disintegrate under the weight of it knows this to be true.  Yet, even with all the examples that we have before us of these things, men and women still enter into relationships and commit adultery.  The siren call of pleasure drowns out the voice of teachers and instructors who have warned them of the rocky shores upon which they will wreck their lives and the lives of their families.  The only cry they will lift is unfortunately the one that comes from the battered survivors who cry in pain in the midst of their wreckage. 

That is what we have here before us - the cry of the destroyed.  I did not listen to my teachers!  I did not incline my ear to my instructors!  I am ruined due to my sin and my indiscretions!  The cries come from the rocks and from the ruins of lives that have ventured too far into those dangerous waters.  They have ignored the warning of the lighthouse of Scripture that tells them what will happen.  Rebellious and unteachable - their lesson will only be learned the hard way.  They will add their names to the long list of cautionary characters who faced ruin in opposing and thinking they can get past the Scriptures and God's warnings.  All this can seem like too much - but tomorrow we will see a ray of hope in what is said in verse 14.  So if you are on the verge of despair - there is hope - there is mercy - and there is grace!

The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Proverbs 18:15

The search for knowledge is an interesting thing to look at in the Scriptures - as well as in the world.  The world wants knowledge - but it is a different kind of knowledge from a different source.  The knowledge that he world desires is what is called worldly knowledge.  It is a knowledge that ignores God's Word - and is in opposition to it.  It is knowledge that denies God's existance as creator - denies the moral realities of the world - and encourages man to continue to live independently from God.

The knowledge that is encouraged here in Proverbs is that which is gained by not only knowing God and His Word, but also being able to take what you know and use it to guide you in making decisions and in pleasing God in every situation that you face in life.  We see here that the mind of the prudent acquires knowledge.  Mind here refers to our thinking and reasoning - but it affects the heart and the core values that guide our decision making.  The wise man mentioned here is the one whose mind and heart is prudent.  What is meant by this is that he is constantly seeking the ability to look at two things and see the difference between them.  He is a discerning man who does not take everything at face value.  He looks into things so that he may acquire knowledge before he makes decisions - or even decides how to view something in life.  If there is any way that this man can get knowledge in this way - he is trying to acquire it.  This word, acquire speaks of purchasing something in order to possess it.  This man wants knowledge - and he will pay whatever cost there is to get it.  When you read ths do not think of money - but think of time, study, and diligence in seeking and knowing the Word of God.  It is often costly in time and effort to get the kind of knowledge that yields discernment as well.  You just cannot open and book and get it.  It comes by knowing the Word in a way that helps us to see things as God sees them. 

The wise man also tunes his ears to seek knowledge.  Note here that we move from our minds to our ears.  What is different about this word is that it is saying something far more than just listening with our physical hearing.  The New Testament often uses the phrase, "hear what the Spirit is saying."  That means being able to hear with far more than just our physical ears.  It speaks of the ability to hear God.  The word seek emphasizes it even more.  This is the Hebrew Word that speaks of seeking God's presence.  Daniel 9:3 speaks of this kind of seeking when we read of Daniel doing the following.  "So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes."  When we "seek" for knowledge we are giving our attention to it.  We are praying and crying out to God to give us His knowledge and His heart for things.  At times this involves even fasting and special concern for gaining the knowledge that God has for us. 

Knowledge is important for the man wanting to be wise.  It will involve reading and study like all other forms of knowledge, but it will require more.  It will require that we have a heart for God - and desire a spiritual knowledge that God gives us from His Word.  But the reward for such a search is that we wil be able to walk through life being able to discern what to do and how to do it in a number of situations.  We will have a discernment that will allow us to see beyond surface issues and get to the very heart of a decision or a response to others.  the place you se this the best is in the life of Jesus.  His knowledge of the Word and of His Father's heart gave Him the ability to cut through any kind of lie or misinformation.  He truly could answer not just the question of a man - but the heart and motive behind it.  That is the wonderful discernment that comes with the knowledge God gives us as we seek it and Him diligently.

"But he who listens to me shall live securely And will be at ease from the dread of evil." Proverbs 1:33

Although the past eleven verses have been ones that have had a message of warning and correction, the last verse in this admonition gives us an encouraging lift.  That is the blessing of listening to God's warnings.  They may be tough, but in the end He also offers us a positive look at what it means if we live a life that obeys and honors Him.  That is what we will examine today as we look at the last verse of Proverbs chapter one.

We immediately see the transition that is made here.  But . . . is such a wonderful word when seen in transitions where God has been trying to make a point.  Foolishness has been shown for how unwise and destructive that it truly is throughout these verses.  But now God is going to turn things around with one verse.  There is proise of punishment and consequence for those who reject God's wisdom and Word - but for those who will listen - there is blessing.

The word used here to call us to listen is a wonderful word.  It is the Hebrew word "shama" and it means not just to listen with ones ears - it means to have what we listen to affect us so that we obey and regard what it is that God has said to us.  Two famous biblical passages use this word.  The first is in Deuteronomy 6:4 where God introduces the Shema.  "Hear O, Israel!  The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!"  After this God calls Israel to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.  This passage became so famous among Israel that the word listen was codified - and the basic confession of Israel was named, the Shema.  It is a reminder for all time for her people to place love for God above all other things in life!  The second place where this word is used in a famous way is in Isaiah 1:2, "Listen O heaven, and hear O earth; for the LORD speaks, Sons I have reared and brought up, but they have revolted against Me."  This is a passage where Isreal has rejected God - and God calls all of creation to listen to the warning that is offered - a warning that calls men to never abandon and turn away from the Lord.  In both of these passages "shema" is used to call us not just to listen to anything - but to listen to something and Someone of absolute importance.

We are called to listen to God - and here, of course, we are called to listen to His wisdom.  The ones who listen in this way are ones who will "live securely."  This phrase meant that a person could live with a calm assurance that God would protect and keep them.  Wisdom has a way of setting our hearts at ease, knowing that God's wisdom will always yield what is best for us.  The promise is also given that we will be "at ease from the dread of evil."  This ease again describes for us a state of security, peace, and rest.  It speaks oddly enough for this state to overcome someone even at the moment of death.  It is a peace that cannot be disturbed because it is given by God Himself. 

The Lord gives warnings - and they can involve somewhat extensive cautions against wisdom and against walking in rebellion to His Word and ways.  But know that such warnings are given to us because of God's great love and mercy toward us.  Yet in the midst of such warnings - and in the midst of what some might call, "negative messages" we can know that God's desire is for us to walk in His ways and thus to experience all His blessings.  To act like sin does not exist if we do not name it is the height of foolishness.  The wise man knows that such warnings are welcome to us for they remind us that we must cling to and love the LORD our God with all that we have and all that we are.  Such warnings are blessings in disguise for they keep us from walking in foolish and unprofitable ways.  Embrace the negative messages that warn of our propensity to walk in the flesh and in our own strength.  When we keep such wisdom close to our hearts, we will find that these messages are close friends with God's favor - and those are friends that are worth keeping indeed!

"Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; Proverbs 1:24

We are examining the first chapter of Proverbs and seeing why it is not always the best thing to only have positive messages in the church and in our Christian lives.  Here we see the reality that some do not receive what God is saying to them.  They refuse to turn to God as He issues a call to them through His Word and His wisdom.

Too many get bent out of shape when they hear that God has to call us for us to be saved.  They pretty much freak out when they are told that on their own they would never come to God because they are dead in their sins.  They do not realize that God in His mercy does call men to Himself.  But the truth is that even when God calls - men reject Him.  Even when He allows them to hear His counsel, His reproof, His encouragment to turn from their sin to follow Him - they reject it.  That is what is made clear here in this section of Scripture.  God tells us that he called - but the fool refuses that call.  The idea of refusal here involves a rejection not just of the message - but also of the Messenger. 

God is showing great mercy and grace to men in stretching out His hand to them.  Their sin should receive a stretched out hand - to discipline and bring them under God's judgment.  But that is not what the Lord is trying to do here.  He is wanting to instruct - to make His words known to those He calls (vs. 23).  As He stretches out His hand in mercy, what does He receive?  Nothing . . . no one pays any attention to what He is saying.  This coincides with the truth in the New Testsament that, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23).  It also is a testament to Romans 3:10-12 which says, ". . . as it is written, there is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one."  Men, by their very nature reject God.  Due to their deadness in sin, they will refuse Him and reject Him.  But there is an even more amazing truth that this.

It is an amazing thing to read here that men reject and refuse God.  It is astounding that they do not even pay attention to what He is saying.  But what is more amazing is that immediately after He is rejected God does not let judgment fall in that very moment.  But God is merciful in that He responds with further mercy.  But this passage is not a reminder of that mercy.  It is meant to be a stark reminder of how foolish it is to reject God when He does stretch out His hand and offer counsel, reproof, and instruction.

What should we learn from today's Proverb of the day?  We learn that to receive God's wisdom and offer of instruction is the greatest of mercies.  We learn that Jehovah God does this over and over again - offering mercy and grace that is rejected by sinful men.  But the real question for us today is what are WE going to do when we are aware that God is wanting to give us His Words - and correct us from a way that is not in accordance with His will?  Are we going to refuse and reject Him?  Are we going to see His outstretched arms - and not even pay attention? 

It might benefit us greatly to read a passage from Hebrews 2 that offers a warning to us - a warning that we should pay "much closer attention" to the times where God is speaking to us.  Hebrews 2:1-3 offers us this godly counsel on this matter, "For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.  For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"  May we learn to listen with great passion and intensity when the Lord speaks to us - and may we not be guilty of neglecting so great a salvation when God offers not just His grace in Christ initially - but when He continues to save us from sin as He sanctifies us daily by His Word and His Spirit.

He who gives an answer before he hears, It is folly and shame to him.  Proverbs 18:13

When I read this proverb, I immediately was reminded of a problem that I have when it comes to listening skills.  There are times in a conversation with others that I don't listen as closely as I should.  What I do is begin to frame in my mind what I am going to say next - before the other person has finished what they are saying.  Another problem I have is that at times I won't wait for someone to finish what they are saying - because I have convinced myself that I know what they are going to say or finish saying.  Thus I interrupt and rudely start with what I want to say.  Whether this is a common malady among people is not for me to say.  What I can say though is that my lack of listening skills has hurt me from time to time exactly like this proverb says.  I have either been seen as a fool for speaking before I heard the other person - or - I've made had to be ashamed later of something that I've said when listening more intently would have delivered me from the embarassment of that situaiton.

Why would we speak before we hear?  Well, since this is one of my own sins, I feel that I am somewhat an authority on the "whys" of it.  I speak before I listen because I am filled with pride.  I think what I have to say has to be far more important than what the other person is saying at the time.  I consider myself smarter and better informed - or I'm just rude and do not value what someone else has to say.  The one thing I am sure of is that whatever my reasons, they do not hold water - and certainly do not survive the Philippians 2 test (consider others better than yourself).  Lack of character on my part is the overwhelming answer here.

I remember one incident that woke me up to my lack of listening skills.  It was a time when I was witnessing to students at the University of Memphis.  One student invited us into his room to talk.  As we shared I was amazed at his ability to concentrate on whatever was being said at the time.  At first I equated this to the work of the Holy Spirit in drawing him to Christ.  But after three visits I was seeing the same thing again and again.  Finally, I couldn't resist asking him why he seemed so interested in what we were saying when we came to visit.  His answer blew me away.  He said that over the past couple of years he had consciously worked on listening intently to whatever conversation he was a part of so that he could better know what to say - and when to keep his mouth shut.

What astounded me about this interview was that he was not a believer - yet his character far better reflected love than mind did when it came to listening to others.  Those visits did far more to change me than I think they changed him.  I was confronted with my horrible lack of listening skills and how they had brought both shame and foolishness to me.  I remember making a commitment to develop the kind of skills this young man had.  But what motivated me most was remembering the way that talking to him made me feel.  His concentration on what I had to say made me feel important - and yes - loved.  It was and is a reminder to me to this very day that listening well to someone is vitally important.  It can mean the difference between them feeling loved - or - feeling like they are talking to someone rude and foolish.  As someone who longs to be wise, it is my hope to give an answer ONLY after I've heard - not just with my ears, but with understanding and love.