Monday, June 15: 1Corinthians 13- Love.

Right smack in the middle of one of Paul’s most pointed and strong corrections, he writes the most beautiful description about LOVE.

This LOVE is what keeps the community from tearing itself apart. This LOVE is what glues people and Christ-communities together.

I am convinced a person cannot manufacture this kind of love simply through human goodness or strength of will or any other solely human trait. NO, this kind of love is only found when it is infused into the human heart by God.

Be honest.  Can you manufacture love like this?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (4-7).

Just look at the descriptors Paul uses for LOVE... Patient, kind, non-envious, not boastful, not proud and so on. Oh, I can produce some of these some of the time, but I cannot live any one of them all of the time. Much less live all of them all of the time. LOVE like this simply is not possible through human strength alone.

Fortunately, God’s Word tells us elsewhere (see Galatians 5:22; 1John 4:7ff) that God will infuse this (and other) fruit of the Spirit in us as we walk and rely on Him. And even if we fall short regularly, which I do, this LOVE remains both the ideal and the goal as we live in connection with God –Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit.

Thoughts and questions about how to live this way today now gained the upper hand in my thoughts. What does it mean for me to LOVE people in my life like this today? What would I do for them? How would I think about them? What would I give up or surrender because of LOVE for them? And this is where I spent the remaining time with Jesus today…

How about you?  How can you love the others in your life with this kind of LOVE today?

Lord, help me to embody Your LOVE, this LOVE to others today. I pray this in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

 

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