Love is patient… 
and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Ah love, the word that gets tossed around so carelessly and effortlessly like the breeze coming off of the ocean on a daily basis. Do we not all have our own moments throughout the day claiming how much we may LOVE a certain type of food, clothing item, TV show or movie, any sorts of material item we have possessed or want, and so on? We all have those moments, but if we look at the definition of love isn’t that a bit excessive, or doesn’t it dilute the true meaning of love? Perhaps we say it so much that we become desensitized to what it really should be. To exhibit love is to show many qualities of its definition, but if we want to have a deeper understanding for what our words are meaning we can look to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. We see the term love has multiple meanings all in one! By looking at each term and dissecting one-by-one, we tend to diminish the true meaning of love if we are not careful. The overall picture needs to incorporate each individual meaning and combine it into what we mean to be love.

Patience is the first thing mentioned in this verse, so it is clearly an element that is essential for the whole of it to work. Without patience, our version of love would crumble instantly. As mentioned in our latest teaching on patience from this scripture, the patience God has for humanity is indescribable. He gave Noah 100 years to attempt to reach humanity to convince them to changing their ways, sadly to no avail, but if God did not have any patience, he would have whisked everyone away effortlessly from the start. Since the patience was exhibited, he was seen with the qualities of kind, without envy or boasting, there was rejoicing in truth, and so forth. God led and continues to lead by example, showing us how dynamic we are to be when it comes to love. When we place our love in materialistic items and things that do not edify or build us up closer to God, we diminish the true meaning of love and God’s love for us. If we truly love the God’s creation, each other, and the things that are most important as was commanded, we will be able to grow closer to God.


Weekly Challenge:

Consider analyzing how many times you say you love materialistic items or things that will keep us off track from God’s will for our lives. In doing so, you may find a difference in changing your outlook on love and being able to love the way God taught us.