rusty or rustic

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.1 Corinthians 13:1 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/1co.13.1.MSG

Two words: rusty and rustic. They both evoke images. One may even be found in the other. 'Rustic 'evokes warm feelings about country cottages, farmlands and the other 'rusty' could well describe the gate to the farm or farmhouse. However, both are very different.

You may well remember the book series by Laura Ingles Wilder: Little House on the Prairie. These books went a long way in evoking warm feelings about the word rustic. Having grown up in the country I can relate. I can also relate to the rusted gates hinges that creak and squeal as you open the gate. It bady needed oiling.

Our love can be either of these two words: rustic or rusty. We can be welcoming or repelling. Selfishness makes us repugnant, selflessness makes us the light at the homestead on a dark night.

Daily, we must spend time with the good oil, the Holy Spirit, and soak in His love, and grace, repelling all critical thoughts, and continually laying down our lives for others.

I have been to the rustic and the rusty and know which I prefer. How about you?

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