Love Revisited
How well does you love reveal itself to the world?
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
In today's reading, Paul gives us a set of criteria against which we can compare our lives to see how loving we are.
How patient are we? How kind?
We may think we are doing a good job with these, but we tend to forget how often we lose patience or say something that is unkind.
So, Paul tells us to beware of when we are being envious, boastful, arrogant or rude. Think before speaking so we can catch ourselves before we say something we might regret. Focus on the truth.
We hear these words read at weddings, as a reminder of what love in a relationship is supposed to be, what it could be. But we need to hear these words more often. Daily would help.
When we hear it said that God is love, it doesn't mean we are not. We don't get to abandon our commitment to be God-like, just because we are not perfect.
We make mistakes, yes, but we also decide to do and say things with intent to harm.
Where is the love in that?
Paul tells us that everything will come to an end, but love will not. There is hope in that. It tells me that the evil in the world will end.
We are made in God's image, so every emotion we have also exists in God, and yet God overcomes all of it, leaving love for us above all. That speaks to me in a big way. It tells me I can rise above the hurt and the pain and the anger to be loving.
The question is this. Do I want to be loving?
It comes down to choice.
More to come...