1Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love (Will)"

A passage that most people know well.


1Cor 13:4-7
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.


All good things; All things we should aspire to live out. But what if I replace 'Love' with 'William'?
William is patient and kind. William is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
He does not demand his own way. He is not irritable, and he keeps no record of being wronged.
He does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
William never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Can I honestly say I do all these things all the time? I know I do all of them at some times, but not at the same time. In a world that demands so much from me, I find it hard to put down my work related frustrations and hurts when I come home.

How easy it is to lash out and how easy it is to lash out at those closest to us. Unfortunately, I seem to have a reputation around the house as the grumpy one; It's not a reputation I set out to achieve. It's a reputation I have because I keep forgetting to put myself into 1Corinthians.

As I strive to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, I need to keep replacing the word 'love' with my own name. And I challenge you to do the same. When I read it, I want to see both Jesus and myself reflected in the passgeand I pray that you have the same desire.

Do you struggle with love? Is love something you find easy to have and give? Let us know in the comments.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mark 4:3-20 (The Sower...)

Image
Fear of the unknown; Of discomfort; Of having to give up the things I enjoy. I know I'll be better off if I truly surrender to Him, but I'm a stubborn young man. I want what I have that keeps me comfortable. And I want what God has for me too! Mark 4:3-9 With last week's post , I looked at the parable of the sower, but only the last line. The focus being on hearing and listening. This week I'm going to focus on the parable itself and the explanation that followed. “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they...
Read more

Genesis 37:5-8 "I had a dream..."

Image
Long before Martin Luther King Jr had his dream, there was someone who had dreams that foretold great things. However, Joseph's dreams weren't very popular with his family and friends. Check out Andrew Lloyd Webber's version of the brothers reactions:  Joseph's Dreams Genesis 37:5-7 One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. “Listen to this dream,” he said. “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!” His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them. Joseph is a really important person in the early bible. His story connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. His story is found in Genes...
Read more

Anger: Did Jesus sin?

Image
Sometimes I get angry. Something happens, and the red fog descends. I’ve been known to get very angry, very quickly, and often with little or no reason for it. I even get angry at people for doing something to me, that I do to them. Ahh the joy of double standards... And so this has raised a question in my mind; If anger is a sin, how come God and Jesus got angry? Saint Augustine said: “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they don’t remain the way they are.” To be honest, I’ve never considered anger to be a thing of beauty. When I think of anger, I think of myself not being rational, being violent, shouting, and saying or doing things I’d never normally do. And all too often I do these things to the ones I love. So what’s different about how I get angry, and how Jesus got angry? Let’s take a look at Matthew 21:12-13: Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying...
Read more