Many times in my walk with the Lord through the years, I think I have heard countless songs, references, and messages based on 1st Corinthians 13, more affectionately known as “The Love Chapter”. Unfortunately, as much as I’ve heard it, many times I just say”I’ll Remember This Later” as Love messages started sounding too common to me and didn’t get a whole lot of extra attention. Recently, in a conversation I was having with my girlfriend, she gently reminded me of one of the verses in the chapter that states, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.” That caused a ripple effect in my mind that forced me to go back to the chapter and really take in what God says Love is, and if it is said to be there, what does it look like and what does it and what does it not produce? If I am using the word “Love” to describe my feelings toward my girlfriend or any other relationship, then it should line up with Gods’ definition, otherwise I may need to search for another word to describe those feelings. Let’s look briefly: (Caution, you may see yourself somewhere in this list here just like I did. The beauty of it is we can now use the text as a measuring stick to get our minds/hearts right.)
What it’s not:
-
Envious
-
Boastful
-
Prideful
-
Rude
-
Selfish
-
Easily angered
-
Does not delight in evil
What it is:
-
Patient
-
Kind
-
Keeps no record of wrongs
-
Trust
-
Rejoices in truth
-
Protects
-
Always hopes
-
ALWAYS perseveres
It finally clicked, the amazing way God uses relationships like parenthood and marriages to get us to comprehend the way He loves us…on a daily basis. As a child growing up or as a single person it can be easy to put ourselves on top of our own priority list. And during that stage in my life, the word I used to described my feelings toward family and friends was “Love”, but I’m convinced that I had a limited understanding of it and many times I had thrown that word around as if it didn’t carry any real weight to it. Not until marriage did I feel prompted to realize the depth of what Love should look like and what I should look like in it. For example, I promised God that I when I get married, I will love my wife, in order to make good on those statements I have to love according to the playbook otherwise God and I are speaking two different languages, but I’m sure He holds me accountable according to His definition.
For any parents out there, I am sure you have experienced multiple occasions to exercise the produce of Love to your children and hopefully you do it because you Love them. I realize that outside of Marriage and or Parenthood it is almost impossible for me to internally understand the characteristics of Love because I hved never been in an atmosphere in which I committed myself to, before God, in which I HAVE to produce the characteristics of “Love”. A union like marriage where two people have agreed that divorce is off the table as an option have then agreed they will put in the work to Love each other no matter what, including through pride, selfishness, rudeness, irritations, and record keeping. Love IS work, but if you are putting the work into ALL your relationships you will see them grow into what God intends them to look like. Realize the work and how much of a task it seems like to LOVE somebody, then realize that same thing is what God extends to us every single day even through our own pride, selfishness, and rudeness, and yet He keeps no record when we go before Him and continues to deal with us based on His Love for us.
If God is love, and we got God, then what does your love look like?
