Friday 19/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

The Bible exhorts love above tongues & voices, above vision, wisdom, even above giving and self sacrificing. Without love, they are nothing. But what is love? Is it the magical, romantic feeling that makes a person fly high and forget the world  when he or she is with the beloved?

No, that's charm & romance, not love as defined in the Bible. You cannot love the Lord your God or love you neighbors that way. So what is love?

Love is when you care for other people (e.g. their wellbeing, their work, and their future) more than you care for yourself. Thus you are willing to deny yourself for their good.

Here Paul listed the manifestations of love:

_ Love is patient (long suffering): love can suffer long without resenting or retaliating. It is selfless & doesn't concern much of its right.

_ Love is kind: love cares for others and wants them to have good things.

_ Love does not envy or boast: love does not compare itself with others. It does not resent when others do better, neither does it boast when others do worse.

_ Love is not arrogant: love does not put itself above others, or put others below it. Love treats others with respect and as equal.

These are the way and the manifestations of love: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.