What is Love?
Request: Lord, open my eyes as I read your word, my ears to hear, my mind to understand, and my heart to be filled with your love. Amen.
Read 1 Corinthians 13
Record your favorite verse and comment if you want to share.
Respond with a prayer to God
When I think of the word love, my mind usually comes to this great chapter in 1 Corinthians.
I remember when I was in my 20s, at the beginning of married life, how surprised I was when we studied it in Sunday School. I discovered what God says love is, and what it is not. It definitely is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling, although this is nice! It is an attitude of selflessness. It is putting the needs of others before my own and extending mercy and forgiveness. This single chapter has helped me the most since then to counteract the temptations to be unloving. Love is not a feeling, or a spiritual talent show, or how much we give. It’s so much more than that. It is all about how we treat others.
When unwanted, unloving feelings arise (and they certainly will), it is good to catch ourselves and not let them grow. Temptation arises with every one of these scenarios to respond in an unloving way. Don’t open the door, but slam it shut immediately. If left alone, the opposite of love will cause a peck of trouble, not only for others, but personally. I don’t have this mastered. I cannot behave this way in and of myself. It depends on the extent to which I allow the Holy Spirit to rule and reign in my life.
My verse: 1 Corinthians 13:9, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.”
We learn imperfectly. What we know about unfulfilled prophecies is sketchy. It’s always been that way. The apostles lived alongside Jesus and were taught directly by him. Yet, they didn’t understand what was really happening until they experienced what Jesus had told them plainly. They thought he was going to seize power and set all things right then and there. He did just that, but not in the way they expected. He took care of our deepest need, which is pardon of our sin. What a humbling they experienced when they finally understood. It takes this sort of humbling for all of us to come to him, admitting we cannot take care of our own sin. Then we need to learn to love in the same sacrificial way Jesus loves us.
My response: Oh Lord, when I become impatient, unkind and feel like giving up on someone, remind me that this is not love. When I am envious, I’m telling you that what you have provided for me isn’t enough. When I brag about my own accomplishments, family, or anything else, it is definitely not loving. It is putting myself above others. When I gossip, it is dishonoring to another, and surely is not what I want others to do to me. Remind me once again, Lord, this is not love. When seeking recognition for myself or insisting on my own way, it is not love. Anger, without self-control, grudge-holding and being glad when someone “gets what’s coming to them” is not love. I always want the truth! I want to live in truth, and rejoice in it.
1 Comment. Leave new
My verse: “If I give everything I have to the poor and even sacrifice my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”
My response: Father help me to bear fruit that lasts in my relationships – and I know that means genuinely loving those You bring into my life. I don’t want to die having gained nothing. Help me make a difference as Your love flows through me to those around me.