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.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Such a well-known, oft-quoted passage of Scripture! But is it well and often lived out in my life? Have you asked yourself this question, too?
This week, our devotional writers…Ahmee, Ann, Cynda, Laura, and Tina have shared some insightful points regarding what {Biblical} love is. There messages have helped me and encouraged me to hold to the Truth regarding what love is. Here are a few things they have had to say…
In Forgiveness is Love, Tina reminded us of the importance of forgiveness being a part of how we love.
“When we forgive, a weight is lifted from our hearts. We will feel light, we will feel as if the world is at our fingertips, as when we first believed in Jesus Christ. We can have that now. Unforgiveness weighs a ton and sometimes we don’t realize it is piling up.
We need to release those who have wronged us and forgive ourselves. We need to let God take away everything that holds us from reaching our dreams. Stop believing the lies Satan has told us. God wants us to love always, and not hold on to the wrongs in this world.”
❦
In Jesus’ Love IS, Laura shared some examples from her own life and pointed us to our Lord’s love.
” Jesus’ love is the same way. It is patient and kind. Jesus’ love is slow to anger, and it keeps no record of our wrongdoings because we are forgiven by that love. We are saved by that love. It protects us from evil, and it always perseveres. This is why Jesus’s love will win in the end. ”
❦
In Imperfect Love, Ahmee reminded us, though we are imperfect, we can strive to love perfectly by being examples of our Lord’s love.
“Love is meant to be unconditional. But, like many other things the human race has gotten it’s hands on, it can be tainted. And we need to remember this. We aren’t going to love perfectly. In a perfect world we would, but we don’t live in a perfect world. I’m not saying we need to excuse or ignore the fact that we don’t love perfectly, but we need to be kinder to one another. Some of us have had poor examples of what love actually looks like. What we know in our minds sometimes does not translate in the real world, because we just don’t know what it’s supposed to be like.
We are imperfect. Our love will be imperfect. Together, we can strive for Godly love. Together we can show one another (and unbelievers) what love truly looks like. We can be examples of the Lord’s love—He loves us, so we can love others. Together, we can get it right.”
❦
In Selfless Love, Ann gave us some great examples of 1st Corinthians-love lived out by men (Paul, Moses, Joseph…and Jesus) throughout the Bible. And she wrote…
“As believers let us encourage one another to have selfless love and do as the Word says in the passage (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) we are focusing on this week. We were made in His own likeness and so we have to show the likeliness of God. In whatever we do, how we speak, the way we carry ourselves…let those who see us thank God and turn to God. We should not grieve the Spirit with our deeds and cause the name of the Lord to not be worshipped. ”
❦
And in Utterly Unselfish, Cynda gave us a little exercise so that we had some perspective about living out 1 Corinthians 13. And she also shared,
“Utterly unselfish love, possible only with God’s help
Whew!!! That’s a tall order. Try reading that passage with your name in place of {Love}. (Did anyone besides me just say OUCH?!?) I am not all those things yet…but I can continue to work towards them. What I need to remember is that is not important how many times I fail, but how many times I get back up. Perseverance is key. Hebrews 12:1b (NIV) encourages us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us….” James 1:4 tells us we must “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” God will always be there to help if I am willing to persevere and ask Him for help. The neat thing—God has already provided us with everything we need.”
About coleen hayden
As we have heard many times, we are His hands and feet. If we don’t love as God loves then who will? No one. The foundation of Jesus’ great commission is love.
Thank you, ladies, for these important lessons and reminders of how we are to live out God’s love. I know I have some “work” to do to be a good ambassador of His love.
<3