1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow! There's a lot in those words! When we tell someone we love them, do we really mean it? Do we throw that word around in a careless way? Let's break the above scriptures down for just a moment.
Love is..........
Patient: (tolerant or understanding; enduring with calmness) When we truely love someone, we need to be understanding, no matter what they are going through. We need to be tolerant, even when it may be hard to do, and try our best to be calm about whatever might be going on.
Love is ..........
Kind: (Of a friendly, generous, or warm hearted nature; showing sympathy or understanding; considerate) There's that understanding word again! When we love someone, we try to understand them. We feel for them when they have needs in their lives, we're considerate of their feelings or what they're going through. We have a soft spot, so to speak, for that person because we love them.
Love does not .......
Envy: (the desire to have for oneself something possessed by another) If we truely love someone, we will be happy for them and what they have. We won't resent it. When we start resenting someone because they have more than us in material things or possessions, then that's wrong. I have never been one that has had a lot of money in my life. I didn't own what was considered the best of everything, in terms of what society deems the best, but God has always sustained me. But I'm happy and I have a wonderful life! So in order for me to truely love someone, I can't envy them for what they have. And on the same note, I may have more than someone else, but what I have to do is be thankful for what I have, pray for those that may not have, and thank God for blessing those that do. And that's hard to do sometimes, but it's part of love.
Love does not .......
Boast: (to speak with excessive pride; the act of bragging) Love doesn't do this. Bragging is not something I believe the Lord is pleased with. There is nothing wrong with being proud of an accomplishment, but that's different than being boastful all the time. We can hurt people that way because it can cause them to feel like you think you are better than them. We are all the same in God's sight. No one person is better than another. We all take the same thing with us when we die..nothing but ourselves. Whether we have a lot of material things or whether we don't have much of anything, we all face eternity, and stand before God. Instead of boasting, we just need to love each other.
Love is not...........
Proud: (filled with or showing excessive self esteem) If we truely love someone, we are willing to do anything for them to help them or take care of them, as long as it's not wrong. To me, it also means that we don't think we're too good to accept help from someone we love when we need it. My daddy took care of my mother for the last several years of her life. And in that, he had to do alot of things for her that she wasn't able to do for herself. But he never felt like he was above doing the things that he needed to do for her. Why? Because he truely loved her. What an example of love...
Love is not..........
Rude: (ill mannered; discourteous) Have you ever been around someone that was just rude all the time? They felt like what they had to say was so much more important than what you were saying. Or maybe they were short with you, or just had an ill attitude? That doesn't show love. We need to love each other and respect each other in every way.
Love is not..........
Self Seeking: (pursuing only one's own ends or interests) Love is not being concerned just about yourself and what you want. It's about caring for others and their needs. It's about being interested in them and what concerns them. Putting ourselves above others is not love.
Love is not.........
Easily Angered: (a strong feeling of displeasure or hostility; enrage or provoke) Loving someone should be the very reason we don't get easily angered at them. When you love someone, it doesn't mean you never get mad, but you shouldn't be able to be so easily provoked. If that's the case, we need to look at the reasons that cause us to get angry so easily and then see what we can do to change that.
Love ..........
Keeps No Records of Wrongs: Love is not about being able to say to that person, " I will forgive you but I will never forget!" We shouldn't keep a running tab of all the ways someone has wronged us. Because what good is that? If we truely forgive someone for doing something wrong, then it shouldn't be saved for later so you can bring it up again and remind them of it. That's not really forgiving someone, that's just trying to benefit yourself. I'm so glad God doesn't do us that way!
Love does not.......
Rejoice In Evil, But Delights In The Truth: When we get pleasure out of seeing someone else get hurt or done wrong, then we are not showing love. We should never get enjoyment out of seeing someone else having to endure pain, or hurt, or being done wrong. Rather we should be happy when good things happen. When someone is lied to or lied about or hurt by other people's lies, then when the truth is brought about, that lifts a burden off the one done wrong. We need to be happy in the truth. We need to be truthful, because lies get us nowhere. Love doesn't rejoice in evil.....but it loves truth!
Love always........
Protects: (to keep from being damaged, attacked, stolen, or injured; to guard) If there's one thing I know, I know that my husband protects me! He loves me so much and he would do everything in his power to keep anyone or anything from harming me. And I love him in the same way and would do anything I could to protect him! Love is cherishing something or someone and keeping it from harm.
Love always.......
Trust: (to have or place confidence in) Trust is so important, whether it is in a relationship with your spouse, or dealing with your children, or children trusting their parents, or a friend relationship...whatever the case, trust is important! When you love someone and know they love you, there should be no doubt in your mind that you can trust them. Never give them a reason not to trust you....
Love always........
Hopes: ( to wish for something with expectation of it's fulfillment) When we have love, we have hope. Enough said.....
Love always.......
Perseveres: (to persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement.) Love is persistant, it is a constant thing no matter what we face. When we love someone, we can always persevere in the worst of times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love is a bundle of all kinds of things. So many different emotions that are involved, but the most important thing is that we truely love people, and treat them the way we know is right. When we say we love people, we need to really mean it and show it! We love people in different ways, but I don't ever want to carelessly throw that word around. It has too much meaning to do that.
Love is........a great thing!
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow! There's a lot in those words! When we tell someone we love them, do we really mean it? Do we throw that word around in a careless way? Let's break the above scriptures down for just a moment.
Love is..........
Patient: (tolerant or understanding; enduring with calmness) When we truely love someone, we need to be understanding, no matter what they are going through. We need to be tolerant, even when it may be hard to do, and try our best to be calm about whatever might be going on.
Love is ..........
Kind: (Of a friendly, generous, or warm hearted nature; showing sympathy or understanding; considerate) There's that understanding word again! When we love someone, we try to understand them. We feel for them when they have needs in their lives, we're considerate of their feelings or what they're going through. We have a soft spot, so to speak, for that person because we love them.
Love does not .......
Envy: (the desire to have for oneself something possessed by another) If we truely love someone, we will be happy for them and what they have. We won't resent it. When we start resenting someone because they have more than us in material things or possessions, then that's wrong. I have never been one that has had a lot of money in my life. I didn't own what was considered the best of everything, in terms of what society deems the best, but God has always sustained me. But I'm happy and I have a wonderful life! So in order for me to truely love someone, I can't envy them for what they have. And on the same note, I may have more than someone else, but what I have to do is be thankful for what I have, pray for those that may not have, and thank God for blessing those that do. And that's hard to do sometimes, but it's part of love.
Love does not .......
Boast: (to speak with excessive pride; the act of bragging) Love doesn't do this. Bragging is not something I believe the Lord is pleased with. There is nothing wrong with being proud of an accomplishment, but that's different than being boastful all the time. We can hurt people that way because it can cause them to feel like you think you are better than them. We are all the same in God's sight. No one person is better than another. We all take the same thing with us when we die..nothing but ourselves. Whether we have a lot of material things or whether we don't have much of anything, we all face eternity, and stand before God. Instead of boasting, we just need to love each other.
Love is not...........
Proud: (filled with or showing excessive self esteem) If we truely love someone, we are willing to do anything for them to help them or take care of them, as long as it's not wrong. To me, it also means that we don't think we're too good to accept help from someone we love when we need it. My daddy took care of my mother for the last several years of her life. And in that, he had to do alot of things for her that she wasn't able to do for herself. But he never felt like he was above doing the things that he needed to do for her. Why? Because he truely loved her. What an example of love...
Love is not..........
Rude: (ill mannered; discourteous) Have you ever been around someone that was just rude all the time? They felt like what they had to say was so much more important than what you were saying. Or maybe they were short with you, or just had an ill attitude? That doesn't show love. We need to love each other and respect each other in every way.
Love is not..........
Self Seeking: (pursuing only one's own ends or interests) Love is not being concerned just about yourself and what you want. It's about caring for others and their needs. It's about being interested in them and what concerns them. Putting ourselves above others is not love.
Love is not.........
Easily Angered: (a strong feeling of displeasure or hostility; enrage or provoke) Loving someone should be the very reason we don't get easily angered at them. When you love someone, it doesn't mean you never get mad, but you shouldn't be able to be so easily provoked. If that's the case, we need to look at the reasons that cause us to get angry so easily and then see what we can do to change that.
Love ..........
Keeps No Records of Wrongs: Love is not about being able to say to that person, " I will forgive you but I will never forget!" We shouldn't keep a running tab of all the ways someone has wronged us. Because what good is that? If we truely forgive someone for doing something wrong, then it shouldn't be saved for later so you can bring it up again and remind them of it. That's not really forgiving someone, that's just trying to benefit yourself. I'm so glad God doesn't do us that way!
Love does not.......
Rejoice In Evil, But Delights In The Truth: When we get pleasure out of seeing someone else get hurt or done wrong, then we are not showing love. We should never get enjoyment out of seeing someone else having to endure pain, or hurt, or being done wrong. Rather we should be happy when good things happen. When someone is lied to or lied about or hurt by other people's lies, then when the truth is brought about, that lifts a burden off the one done wrong. We need to be happy in the truth. We need to be truthful, because lies get us nowhere. Love doesn't rejoice in evil.....but it loves truth!
Love always........
Protects: (to keep from being damaged, attacked, stolen, or injured; to guard) If there's one thing I know, I know that my husband protects me! He loves me so much and he would do everything in his power to keep anyone or anything from harming me. And I love him in the same way and would do anything I could to protect him! Love is cherishing something or someone and keeping it from harm.
Love always.......
Trust: (to have or place confidence in) Trust is so important, whether it is in a relationship with your spouse, or dealing with your children, or children trusting their parents, or a friend relationship...whatever the case, trust is important! When you love someone and know they love you, there should be no doubt in your mind that you can trust them. Never give them a reason not to trust you....
Love always........
Hopes: ( to wish for something with expectation of it's fulfillment) When we have love, we have hope. Enough said.....
Love always.......
Perseveres: (to persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement.) Love is persistant, it is a constant thing no matter what we face. When we love someone, we can always persevere in the worst of times.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love is a bundle of all kinds of things. So many different emotions that are involved, but the most important thing is that we truely love people, and treat them the way we know is right. When we say we love people, we need to really mean it and show it! We love people in different ways, but I don't ever want to carelessly throw that word around. It has too much meaning to do that.
Love is........a great thing!
My love to those who I extend it to is real! We love all mankind, just as our Heavenly Father loves us. How can we not...
ReplyDeleteI feel the same on that Loretta. When I love someone, it is for real! But there are some people that say they love you when they really don't. I read this scripture and decided to post what I posted to remind us all, myself included, to love as we want to be loved. I fail at that myself sometimes....
ReplyDeleteits been long since i visited ur blog...
ReplyDeletethis is a great post on love.a true revelation for me:)
Thank you Haritha! Glad you liked it! I have missed seeing your comments :D
ReplyDeleteA post worth reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks for defining those works and thanks for reminding me of the words I use, especially "I love you."