Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not boast. Love is not proud. Love does not dishonor another. Love is not self-seeking. Love does not easily cause anger. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in hurting others. Love rejoices in the truth. Love always protects. Love always trusts.
Read each sentence again. Take a pause. Then read the next sentence.
Pretty sobering words, don't you think? Think about your relationships. All of them. Do you treat the people you care about with the biblical definition of love? Do you, like me, have a tendency to say "Oh, I love that!" or "Oh, I just love her!"?
We throw the word "love" around so flippantly. We twist it. We manipulate it. We abuse it. We belittle it. We use it as bribery. We pervert it to fit our needs. We don't, yours truly included, stop to think about the literal meaning. To exemplify the true definition of love that God has set before us.
We have some friends who raised their sons to truly understand the biblical definition of love. None of their boys told any of their brides-to-be that they loved them until they proposed.
These young men understood the awesome responsibility of that one four letter word. They would not give away their hearts until they were certain that they could serve their wives under God's definition of love. I have always been in awe of their reverence for God, marriage, respect for themselves, and their brides.
I think about our own grown daughters. Have we fallen short by not teaching them the true biblical definition of love? They grew up in household full of love. They watched their parents love, struggle, and love. But did we live God's literal definition of love? Probably not. I can only pray that God's grace will cover any area of lack.
Why did God give us His definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7? I think, just as parents give children directions for their safety, He wants to protect us. He wants us to understand the importance of guarding our hearts. The responsibility that comes with giving our hearts. The intentionality of loving as He loves us.
In order for us to love others as Christ loved us we have to turn the noise of the world off. We must approach life with humility. The world tells us to be boastful, prideful, put ourselves first, anything to feel good, to put our needs first. This is the total antithesis of what Christ calls us to do.
The more I delve into the Lords words the more I realize how much He truly loves us. Me. The magnitude of a life sacrificed for me. A woman's son hanging on a cross, bloodied, beaten, flesh ripped, bludgeoned all just because He loved me. And you. It's unfathomable.
Imagine your child on that cross. Their precious body, skin hanging off the bone, blood everywhere. Crucified, sacrificed, murdered because he/she chose to save the world. The very world that didn't understand nor practice the very definition of love. Your child, willingly, leaving you and your family to die for the love of others.
This week approach your relationships in servitude. In gratitude. Don't put your agenda before another. Do ask, in the spirit of love, how you can make someone elses day easier. Be patient with those that try your patience. Offer kindness to those you'd just as kindly choose to not be around. Don't envy anyone. Instead practice truly being happy for their successes. Don't tear someone down with gossip because it makes you feel better about yourself. Instead choose to speak words that are uplifting.
Read each sentence again. Take a pause. Then read the next sentence.
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not boast. Love is not proud. Love does not dishonor another. Love is not self-seeking. Love does not easily cause anger. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in hurting others. Love rejoices in the truth. Love always protects. Love always trusts.
Powerful stuff.
