
October 26, 2024
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."
- 1st Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)
Over the past couple of days, we saw that love demands expression. We also introduced the components of love. Today we will look at practical biblical strategies on how to express love in our everyday lives. Our bible text gives us an idea of what love is and what love is not. As believers, this is our internal scale for us to check the validity or realness of the components of love. Is the love I convey through my words, and my acts of kindness and service genuine and patient? Or it is filled with envy or boastfulness?
Love is patient. The New King James Version puts it this way: “Love suffers long.” The word patient or suffers long means to have a long spirit when dispensing or expressing love. It is impossible to truly love someone and be short-tempered or intolerant about their inadequacies and weaknesses. To be patient means that we do not lose heart or get discouraged while loving people. We are all imperfect beings.
People will make mistakes and offend us. Just as God forgives our sins and extends His boundless grace to us, we are called to mirror this divine love by being patient and forgiving others. Ephesians 4:32 encourages us to "be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." This biblical understanding of love goes beyond feelings; it is an active commitment to treat others with the same grace and patience that God continually shows us.
Love is patient... It is impossible to truly love someone and be short-tempered or intolerant about their inadequacies and weaknesses.
Love extends the same grace that we give ourselves to others. Have you ever made a mistake or offended someone, remorsefully retraced your steps and felt a sense of relief knowing that the mistake was not intentional? Now, practice doing the same for others.
Love does not envy. The Greek word for envy means to ‘burn with anger’. So, love does not envy means that we are not living our lives full of anger or hatred for others. Envy and hatred are incompatible with the essence of God’s kind of love because they stem from selfish desires and comparison and lead to division and harm.
Instead, love seeks the best for others, rejoices in their successes, and remains patient and kind. Proverbs 14:30 also warns that "envy rots the bones," highlighting the destructive nature of envy. May we continue to use this internal scale to check our actions to ensure that we reflect God's love, which is pure, selfless, and enduring.
Song of Worship
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Song Reckless Love by Cory Asbury
Prayer - Dear Lord, help us to extend patience and kindness to others. Give us the grace to live lives free of envy and hatred. In Jesus name – Amen.