LOVE IS
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJV
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
Much has been said about, sung about, and written about love. Most of the references to love deal with the romantic love. I remember growing up hearing songs about how love hurts, or love goes bad. Love, especially the romantic kind of love, seems to be something people can’t live with or live without.
But the love that is referenced in our verses for today is a different kind of love. The word in the King James Bible is charity. The word for this kind of love in the Greek is agape. Agape has been called the “God kind of love.” This is different from romantic love, which is typically accompanied by feelings. This word for love is the same word used in the famous John 3:16 passage. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” This love, goodwill, benevolence, is describing what God did for us that was for our benefit. This kind of love is not based on feelings and emotions. This love is based on decisions and character. God is this kind of love; this is who He is. And we see that this kind of love is giving. God loved us so, He gave. The God kind of agape has a give to it.
And this give shows up in our verses for today. It takes character and a quality decision to walk in this love. This love puts up with people for a long time and is kind about it. Now tell me that doesn’t require a give. This agape love is not envious when others do well and is not self-promoting and arrogant. In our world of brand management, this agape love will stand out.
Verse five is stout in terms of love requiring something from us. This love does not behave rudely and does not seek its own rights or its own way. Being raised in the South with a mom who was intent on her children being well-mannered, I do okay on not being rude. But not seeking my own rights and own way is a constant challenge. And this love is not provoked. One translation states that it is not easily provoked and does not take into account an evil done to it. Now we are talking seriously. To stay cool and calm when someone is provoking you is challenging. But to not take into account an evil done to you and put it out of mind is taking things to another level.
This agape love does not rejoice in sin but rejoices with the truth. This is where the world often takes issue with Christians. We don’t rejoice in someone’s sin because we know it will hurt them in the long run. We rejoice with the truth that is found in God’s word. The world becomes furious that we don’t endorse their sin, but love knows better.
Love does not easily quit or fade out. Love endures. This is another example of how strong this love is. Too often, love is painted as weak, but to walk in this God kind of love is anything but weak. This love requires strength. The good news is that we have this capacity to love. Paul writes about exercising this agape love in many of his letters. We get the picture that this love is a function of putting on the new man in Christ. We are love children spiritually born into a family of love. Don’t you just love that!
APPLICATION
Joy used to post these 1 Corinthian scriptures all over the house. It was on our bathroom mirror and in the glasses cabinet in the kitchen. It seemed that everywhere I turned, I was running into 1 Corinthians 13. I asked her why all the repetition, and she claimed she needed the constant reminders due to being married to me. Ouch! But she stayed for over 40 years so it worked!
These are good verses to memorize and frequently go over. Jesus’ big commandment was to love one another with this agape love. This love is always the right choice.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to walk as You walked. Help me to live in this agape love!