The Love Chapter

         The Love Chapter is the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. I am excited about this post because 1 Corinthians 13 is my favorite chapter of the Bible. It explains what God’s love is and how we are supposed to share that love. There are so many sides to these verses and in this post, I am going to cover three.

“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. Love never fails.” (1Corinthians 13:4-8)

SIDE #1

                Side #1 is the most obvious: it’s a definition. The verses all combined make up a list of things that define what God’s love looks like.  When you read them they paint a picture of just how “…wide and long and high and deep…” (Ephesians 3:18) God’s love really is.

SIDE #2

                Side #2 is God’s love toward us. In 1 John 3:7 it says that God is love. That means that God is everything that’s listed in 1 Corinthians 13. He is patient and kind. He doesn’t envy, He doesn’t boast, and He’s not proud. Need I continue? Our God is an awesome God! But because God is all those things, His love toward us consists of all those things. He has patience for us daily, He keeps no record of our wrongs, He isn’t easily angered when we make mistakes, and so on. This is how much God loves us.

SIDE #3

            The third side to these verses is challenging. As followers of Christ we are to display God’s love to others. We need to be patient, kind, not envious, not boastful. We need to seek others, and delight in the truth. Honestly, when you look at this side of the verse, it’s easy to get intimidated. How are we supposed to be all those things at the same time? We aren’t. The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We all have sinned but we still fall short. Every day we sin and make mistakes. That’s why it’s such a relief that God’s love for us never fails.  As followers of Christ, we need to demonstrate that love to others as best we can. God knew that we couldn’t act out love alone. He gave us tools to help us do what He has called us to do.

The first tool is the Holy Spirit. God gave us the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us as we demonstrate God’s love. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “But we have the mind of Christ.” God lives in us, and His character will show through us.

We not only have God’s character instilled in us, but we also have the tangible, touchable Word of God to lead and guide us. As we read the Bible, God prunes us to be more like Him. See John 15:2, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” He teaches us how to act like Him through His Word.

It’s hard to act out love. It’s a journey. It’s a process. But God will be with you through it all.

 

This Valentine’s Day, ask God to show you how you can demonstrate His love to those around you.

I hope that this encouraged and inspired you as well as many others.

Love, Grace 

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