Paul’s Description of Love

 

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Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will cease, whether there are tongues, they will cease, whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 1 Cor 13: 4-8 (NKJV)

 

Paul describes the highest attributes of love.

 

 love suffers long

 The King James Version says, ‘long suffering’, this translates to the modern phrase ‘is patient’.

 

 and is kind

When we show kindness to others, we show love to them. Our action may be very small, but it may mean the world to that other person.

 

 love does not envy

When we love as Jesus loves and another person receives something that is good, a loving response is for us to be happy for them.

 

 love does not parade itself, is not puffed up

When we love as Jesus loves we are not to call attention to ourselves or what we have done, especially when that something makes us look good in the eyes of others.

 

 does not behave rudely

When we truly love as Jesus loved will not do anything that another person would consider rude.

 

does not seek its own,

When we show the love of Jesus, we do not do things with selfish motives.

 

 is not provoked,

When we love like Christ, we can’t let another person ‘push buttons’ and cause him or her to get angry.

 

thinks no evil,

When we truly love with the love of Christ, we will not say bad things or wish them on those around us.

 

does not rejoice in iniquity,

 When we love as Christ loves, we will not be happy when anyone around us sins.

 

but rejoices in the truth, when we truly love as Jesus does, we are grateful for the truth that sets us and those around us free from their struggles and their sins.

 

 bears all things

When we love as Jesus loves, we learn to be strong and wait for His outcome to a circumstance.

 

believes all thing

When we love as Jesus loves, we believe all the good things we know about others.

 endures all things.

 

Because of Jesus’ love for the people God had created, He went to the cross to make us acceptable (sinless) before His Father. When we love someone, we attempt to tolerate their unkind thoughts and their bad behavior.

 

Love never fails.

The Love of God is eternal. Even when we mess up, He is there waiting for us to seek forgiveness of our wrongdoing and then guidance to make things right with those we have hurt.

 

prophecies. . . will cease

As a teenager, I heard some ‘profound’ prophecies that never came to pass. We have heard some prophecies in the recent past that also have not happened. God is in control.

 

 tongues. . . will cease

When we all learn to love as Jesus did, we will be able to live our lives without hearing “wagging tongues”, we will be so busy praising God and doing new tasks He will assign us.

 

 knowledge. . . will vanish away We know procedures of certain activities we do to get through our jobs, through our daily chores, through raising our children. As technology has changed those procedures, those new ways may also be done away with when Christ comes again.