I used to think that I Cor 13 was a beautiful love passage, and it is, but it's implications reach further than your spouse.
Paul never says, okay, now husbands and wives love like this.
It's incredibly important, even essential to love others this way. He basically says it trumps the other spiritual gifts of prophecy and tongues. So if I don't then my outreach is in trouble.
I'm supposed to love like those verses say. And not just on my good days! Maybe I'm just especially selfish, but that is way hard to even contemplate. Let's take a look at a few characteristics:
I'm supposed to be "patient" even with annoying people, "kind" to people who are not kind to me, not envious when my brother in Christ who has more musical talent than me, not boastful when I've accomplished something even if someone else is always bragging and putting me down, not be rude even if I'm exhausted, and the one that really gets me: does not insist on its own way.
I don't know about you, but I get pretty upset when my plans get overturned or overruled by others. I don't naturally put people's desires above myself.
No, not easy to do. And we're supposed to show this kind of love to others? Seems like a high order. But what has Christ done?
Yeah, I think we can handle it through Him, for Him, and because of Him.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment