The Greatest Thing in the World - A Self Test

Greetings in the midst of a summer sizzler.
 
I receive numerous correspondences waxing eloquently (some not so) about philosophies, theologies, doctrines, principles, precepts, pet theories, speculations and beliefs. However, none of them have supplanted the decree of Jesus Christ when He responded to a group of religious zealots, who were trying to trap Him with word games by asking:
 
"Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?"

Jesus replied, "You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind."  This is the first and greatest commandment.  
 
A second is equally important: "Love your neighbor as yourself."  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Matthew 22)
 
I concluded years ago that it would take me the rest of my life to work these two commandments out in my remaining time here on this planet. I had a neighbor years ago I didn’t even like, much as less love!
 
But what is love in real life?  You can parse the word love in its various forms from ancient languages, hear it described in innumerable love songs and poems, and even desire to long for it and express it in our deeds not just our words. But I, more often than not, find myself falling far short between the real and the ideal.
 
However, I did come up at least with a standard of measurement by which to judge myself on love words.
 
Paul the Apostle dropped the plumb line in his exposition of the subject of love in the New Testament book of First Corinthians Thirteen. I formulized a procedure where I transposed the word love with my own personal name Scott, and personalized the characteristics of love. You can do likewise applying your own name; you may find it quite revealing.
 
For those who know me personally, be loving and suppress the tendency to laugh at how far short I come.
 
I Corinthians 13
 
If Scott didn't love others, Scott would have gained nothing.

Scott is patient and kind.
 
Scott is not jealous or boastful or proud… or rude.
 
Scott does not demand his own way.
 
He is not irritable, and he keeps no record of being wronged. 
 
He does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  
 
Scott never gives up, he never loses faith, is always hopeful, and he endures through every circumstance.
 
All Scott’s words and so called knowledge will become useless. Now his knowledge is partial and incomplete, and any gifts he has reveals only part of the whole picture!  These partial things will become useless.
 
When Scott was a child, he spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But someday when I grow up, I will put away childish things.  Now I see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror.
 
All that I know now is partial and incomplete. 
 
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
 
Anyone who knows me knows I have failed the test.
 
But the God who is LOVE personified also “knows me completely” and promises that  I will know everything completely, just as He knows me.
 
So, applying another attribute of love, be patient with me and us because we are all still in the hands of the processor.
 
Scott Ross