4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
We’ve all heard this verse and it was probably at a wedding, but have you ever dissected the verses word for word and applied them to parts of your life? This month the Lord has been teaching me a lot about love and living out of an overflow of love and what that actually looks like. I’m learning that love has the power to change everything. When you look at each of these things separately it paints pieces of a bigger picture of what love is supposed to look like. This doesn’t have to be just a romantic love, it’s in any interaction you have with someone.
Be patient, you never know what the Lord is working out in someone else’s heart.
Be kind, be the least of these, look at the other person before yourself.
It doesn’t envy, love doesn’t come out of a place of wanting what it doesn’t have.
It doesn’t boast and isn’t proud, love doesn’t fight to be the center of attention.
It doesn’t dishonor others, it doesn’t come from a genuine place of care for others
It is not self-seeking, it doesn’t say “what is in this for me?”
It isn’t easily angered, it isn’t short tempered or lose its cool.
It keeps no record of wrongs, it doesn’t keep track of the hurt someone has caused but chooses to see the gold in that person over and over again.
It doesn’t delight in evil but rejoices with truth, love lives in the light.
It always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres, love chooses to fight though the storms to see the glory on the other side.
Being able to take each and every one of those attributes of love and put them into practice in every day life is hard. I still fail time and time again, but the Lord is showing me new things through it all and his placing more on my heart to give away to people. I’ve been so thankful to be in Port Elizabeth the past 6 weeks because a lot of what God has been speaking to me has been lived out through the people we’ve been doing life with. It’s a bittersweet thing to be leaving and goodbyes still aren’t easy. When a place starts to feel like home and you are welcomed just as you are is when these attributes of love start to come to life.
3-7 If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always “me first,” Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
1 Corinthians 3:3-7 The Message
