Friday, October 2, 2020
Love does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 1 Corinthians 13:5b-8
Love 2020 Continued
Many things have changed this year, but some thing will always be the same. Love will always be what God's word says love is, even though the way we love people may change a little.
The Bible gives us guidelines on love and these guidelines apply even to 2020.
Love is not does not take into account a wrong suffered - The Greek word logizesthai is an accountant’s word; entering an item in a ledger so it will be remembered. In some strange way, getting our feelings hurt ministers to our ego. Resentment is hiding the little things in your mind that will enable you to continue to go to them like a playroom of bitterness and "hurt" someone with thought of anger and resentment. How sad. LOVE DOESN'T KEEP SCORE! Christian love will learn the great lesson of forgetting. Carrying the wrongs of the past will clutter your enjoyment of the present.
Love does not does not rejoice in unrighteousness Love does not gossip. It finds no value in passing on any information that would destroy another. Simply stated, love doesn't have to put anyone else down to build itself up. Over and over we have heard the saying, "Love is blind." That is not true. Love has eyes that can see and love is aware. But love also has eyelids, and sometimes love chooses to close its eyes and not see. When a turkey is wounded and gets a spot of blood on its feathers, the other turkeys will peck at that spot until they literally peck the wounded turkey to death. As we all know, people can be like that. The reason we humans are like that is because we have not done that particular wrong and that makes us feel self-righteous and judgmental.
Love rejoices with the truth - Love is always eager to believe the best. Jesus could always see the good qualities in others. He could see a queen in a harlot, a preacher in a fisherman with no manners, and what about you and me? Jesus is not the one who condemns but commends us to a higher walk. HE NEVER CONDEMNED THE SINNERS; ONLY THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS.
Love bears all things – The Greek word means to protect, to cover, or hold off: The picture is that love will enable us to stand...regardless. Love bore the cross, love despised the shame, and love opened the tomb.
Love believes all things – Love is trusting. You cannot stop love from trusting again and again for it is its nature to trust. Love will let the one who failed and been proven a liar have another opportunity to prove their dedication. The trust of love is the thrust of redemption for by faith we hold God and He holds us.
Love hopes all things - Love has a creative power in the lives of others. Hope can restore a man's dedication to a task or commitment to a goal. Other’s love for us is many times is our only hope. As we see ourselves as we are in their eyes, then hope can be rekindled.
Love endures all things – Love perseveres. The Greek word hupomenein means to bear or endure triumphantly. This is not the kind of spirit that can sit down and passively endure things, but that spirit that can, in bearing things, actually conquer them. One thing to be said is that life's possibilities come in pairs: goodness and evil, short and tall, strong and weak, hot and cold and, also, pain and pleasure. The existence alone assures the possibility of the other. Every possible blessing is also a possible pain.
Love. Never. Ends. - Period. God's love for us never ends. He never gives up on us. He never says "You are not good enough." He never says "I don't want you anymore." His love for us is eternal, never ending, and unconditional. And yes, He expects us to love others with the same grace and unconditional love He gives us.
