Love: Love does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked.
1 Corinthians 13:5
Jesus: Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him, “It is as you say. The chief priests began to accuse Him harshly. Then Pilate questioned Him again, saying, “Do You not answer? See how many charges they bring against You!”
Mark 15: 2-5
But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.
Love is not rash and neither is Jesus. He was never provoked to do anything because He did not seek His own will but rather He sought to do the will of God the Father. Even in the most terrible circumstances, He never lowered Himself to be unbecoming. He always behaved like the King of Kings. And quite simply, we should behave like children of the King of Kings!
So, the next time we want to whine and kick and scream, let’s remember Whose we are and behave like the royal children we are.
Love: Love does not take into account a wrong suffered.
1 Corinthians 13:5
Jesus: Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12
This is so hard! Our natural bent is to keep track of those who hurt us, how they hurt us, when they hurt us, how badly they hurt us, and then treat them accordingly. Not only does love say don’t do that, it says receive wrongs suffered as a blessing. Really? According to God’s Holy Word, yes, really!
When we are falsely accused…when we lose our jobs…when our friend betrays us…love does not keep track. Love does not write it down and rehearse it over and over. Love does not hold the wrong suffered against the one who caused the suffering.
In my case, far too often Satan says, “Hey Elaine, thanks for the assistance.” But love says, “Take that Satan!”
How about you? Does love win out or does our enemy?
Love: Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.
1 Corinthians 13:6
Jesus: Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:5-6
You’ve gotta love Thomas! He asked the questions everyone else was thinking, but was too afraid to ask. And here he asks the only question that matters. “Jesus, how do we get to where you are going?”
Jesus answered with what is probably the second most quoted verse in the New Testament, John 14:6. Sometimes, though, we get very excited about “the way” part and we really like “the life” part, but that truth piece stuck right in the middle…not so much.
If we are truthful (and that is a big IF), truth makes us uncomfortable. Truth shines its light on every little itty bitty piece of us and God says every single last piece is filthy rags. Well now, it may be filthy rags on my neighbor, but mine are just a little dusty. I will just shake them off and be fine. Nope! Let’s call a filthy rag and filthy rag. That’s truth. Can we rejoice in that? Will we live rejoicing in all of God’s truth? Or will we withhold our love of truth when the world screams “intolerant,” “bigot,” or “traitor”?
Here in the USA, we are removed from the persecution so many of our fellow one anothers face because they stand for the Truth. However, I believe the day is quickly coming when we will be persecuted. The question is, will we stand?
Love: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7
Love never fails.
Jesus: He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you,
Matthew 16: 15-17
but My Father who is in heaven.
You know I love Peter, a man after my own heart. I can only pray that my heart might fully comprehend what he proclaimed in this passage. It is only through claiming, as Peter did, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, that I can be saved (and I am!). Only then can I even begin to bear, believe, hope, or endure anything, let alone all things. Only then will I understand, just a little, that love never fails. In all of these, God gives me lots of practice!
And what did Jesus tell Peter? He didn’t figure this eternal truth out by himself. God revealed it to him. We can’t do this love thing on our own! We can’t receive Christ’s love on our own. We do nothing to earn it or deserve it or understand it. It is ALL God revealing Himself and His Son to us. And we can’t live out His love in the world without God’s divine help! So why do we keep trying to do it on our own?
One Another Living 