⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.

The “always perseveres” part of this passage refers to agape love that never gives up, which is impossible without encouragement from the Holy Spirit. No matter how hard we try or how hard anyone else tries, in this life we will always fail, we will always disappoint. We are human, we are fallen. While as believers we are saints, that does not mean we don’t sin. When we sin, we repent, we seek forgiveness from God and each other, and we forgive others when they sin. Always. This is persevering. Always seeking to obey, always seeking to love, always seeking to forgive.

We can do this because God is love. And the love of God is eternal; it will never fail. One of these days, the world as we know it will end. ^“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare”2 Peter 3:10. The only thing that will remain is God and his saints.

”Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” 2 Peter 3:11-13.

This righteousness is God. God is love, and as the psalmist sings in Psalm 136, “his steadfast love endures forever.” Take time to read this beautiful psalm. Don’t just skip through the repetitions. Dwell on these wonderful promises.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

² Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

⁴ to him who alone does great wonders,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁵ to him who by understanding made the heavens,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁶ to him who spread out the earth above the waters,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁷ to him who made the great lights,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁸ the sun to rule over the day,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
⁹ the moon and stars to rule over the night,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁰ to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹¹ and brought Israel out from among them,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹² with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹³ to him who divided the Red Sea in two,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁴ and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁵ but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁶ to him who led his people through the wilderness,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

¹⁷ to him who struck down great kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁸ and killed mighty kings,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
¹⁹ Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁰ and Og, king of Bashan,
  for his steadfast love endures forever;
²¹ and gave their land as a heritage,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²² a heritage to Israel his servant,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

²³ It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁴ and rescued us from our foes,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;
²⁵ he who gives food to all flesh,
  for his steadfast love endures forever.

²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.

I pray that you will be always and forever blessed by the love of our God of Heaven.

In Christ,

Judy

“⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

The Greek word used here means “to believe, place faith in, or trust.” I really like how the website www.gotquestions.org explains this passage:

“Those who love will always ‘believe’ in the other person. There is no second-guessing or questioning of whether the person should be loved. Love is simply given. It is unconditional. The loved one does not need to perform anything or achieve a certain goal in order to be loved. Just as Christ loves His children unconditionally, He calls us to love others. Love is based on who He is, not on what others do.

A person with God’s type of love will ‘always trust.’ That is, he will not be suspicious of the one he loves. He will be slow to believe any damaging news concerning the loved one and will always give the benefit of the doubt. Whatever the situation, love is ready to trust. To trust someone means that you are ‘ever ready to believe the best’ (AMP) of him or her. The loved one may have a checkered past or be in some other way undeserving of trust, yet true love is able to look past that and meet the need of the individual. Mistrust, cageyness, and suspicion are at odds with godly love.

If brothers and sisters in Christ would believe in one another, setting suspicion aside and extending unconditional love, what a difference it would make in the church! When our focus is on Christ, we can show His love to meet the needs of others.”

I was not a perfect kid, but I was pretty good. I believe that one of the reasons is that my parents not only set a good example for me, they always believed in me and had high hopes for me. I remember my Dad telling me once that he was confident that I would make the right decision about something because I was a leader. I remember being shocked. Me, a leader? I had never thought of myself in that way. Dad saw something in me that I had not seen in myself, and he instilled into me something that he believed I could aspire to. That’s a lesson I never forgot. He believed and saw potential in me.

Again, the website www.gotquestions.org really explains this passage perfectly:

“Part of showing love is hoping, and part of hoping is seeing the potential of others. As Goethe said, ‘If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.’ In love, we can always be hopeful and show confidence in others. This does not rule out confrontation or the redress of wrongs, but the impact of a positive attitude in the life of another person is incalculable.

How many times in the Old Testament did Israel fail God? Yet their failure was never final. Love never says die. Peter failed Jesus, yet the Lord restored him. The Corinthians failed Paul in some ways, yet the apostle, in love, patiently corrected them and called them ‘sanctified’ (1 Corinthians 1:2). Love always points to a brighter day ahead. Love is the lifeline that the hurting can hold on to.

If you have ever had a person believe in you and share a hopeful attitude for your future, then you have experienced some of what 1 Corinthians 13:7 teaches. As long as there is love, there will be hope.”

If you had someone who believed in you, then it is your responsibility to pay it forward. If you did not, then it’s time to break the cycle.

In Christ,

Judy

“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”  1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (NIV).

This underlined sentence (Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth) is a type of literary structure that restates itself in an opposite way for emphasis. So in other words, it’s saying the same thing twice, but in a different way—for emphasis.

According to Webster, the word “delight” means “high degree of gratification or pleasure, joy; also extreme satisfaction. The word “rejoice” means “to give joy to or to gladden”, so we can say that they mean essentially the same thing. Here’s a verse where both words are used:

“Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord and delight in his salvation” Psalm 35:9.

We know that God is love (1 John 4:8), and if we love God, we should love what He loves and hate what he hates (Psalm 97:10). God hates evil. In a speech by Franklin Graham, he says this about hate: “The only things I believe the Bible says we should hate are the very things God hates:”

• “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
• “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9).
• “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate” (Proverbs 8:13).
• “The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence” (Psalm 11:5).
• “O you who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10).

Jesus describes himself as the truth (John 14:6). Jesus wasn’t afraid to call Satan what he is: a liar and the father of lies. Jesus said, “There is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). 

I believe that in this passage, Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, we learn that a very important attribute of love is scrupulous honesty. God hates evil; he describes Satan as the father of lies. Truth and dishonesty are mutually exclusive; that is, if there is a lie, there is no truth, and if there is truth, there is no dishonesty. The very first tenet in the Mission’s Code of Conduct is Honesty, and it is the foundation of every other tenet. Honesty is essential to integrity, or wholeness. As the Scripture reads, “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent” (1 Chronicles 29:17).

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. Many who observe Lent do so by giving up something; however, the key to observing Lent is to focus on repenting of sin and consecrating oneself to God. Let us observe this holy time leading up to Easter showing our love for God and for each other by striving to be completely honest in all our ways, while also demonstrating all the attributes of agape love that we have been learning about.

In Christ,

Judy