TO WALK THIS WAY WITH HIM

Do you tend to skim through familiar, often-quoted Bible passages? I confess that sometimes I do. But when I came to "the love chapter" (Ch. 13) in 1 Corinthians recently, I marked vs. 4-7 for my morning devotional.

“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.”

I usually think of this passage in terms of loving my husband and those near to me. But what if I apply it to loving my "enemy", perceived and real? Sometimes the person I perceive to be my enemy is simply a grumpy cashier or the pushy young salesman in Costco. Or even a thoughtless person in a Zoom meeting who discounts my ideas. Other times, my enemy is real, such as an abuser. But in all cases, I need to remember that if I don’t love others I am nothing. (vs.2) That’s pretty harsh. But Paul is clear when he says, “If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.”

To further aid in understanding what love looks like, what if we use the positive antonyms of the negative words and phrases? So instead of “is not irritable,” we say, “is pleasant”.

Loving my enemy then looks like this:
Love is…
patient
kind
content
modest
humble
polite
yielding
pleasant
forgiving
merciful
just
persevering
pursuing
hopeful
enduring.

WOW. Wow!

This describes Jesus, doesn’t it? Oh, how I want it to describe me too!

Father, help me to see Jesus this way, and help me to walk this way with Him. I pray that You will show me when I am failing to love. Empower me by Your Holy Spirit to be patient and kind. Help me to be content, modest, humble, and polite. Remind me to be yielding instead of insisting on my own way. May I be pleasant and always forgiving. Enable me to be merciful and just. And grow in me the ability to be persevering, pursuing, hopeful, and enduring through every circumstance.