Love does.
It is the name of a popular book.
It is also a truth that we see here in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
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.
I have learned that love is far more than just a feeling; love is an action, and in many ways, love is faith being lived out. Faith that God will provide. Faith that God is at work, even when the response of the other person isn’t what we had hoped. Love is the action of living like Christ.
The truths that we read about love in 1 Corinthians 13 are also true of Christ.
Christ is patient.
Christ does not envy or boast.
Christ is not arrogant or rude.
Christ does insist on His way, for it is true and the way of life.
Christ is not irritable.
Christ does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
Christ bears all things.
Christ hopes all things.
Christ endures all things.
Christ never ends.
Christ is love.
A few years ago a colleague of mine said the phrase, “Love always initiates”.
As I reflect on those words and lay the premise over what I see in the life of Jesus that we read about in the Scriptures, it proves true time and time again.
Love always initiates.
Christ always initiates.
It/He reaches out when others recoil.
It/He protects when others abandon.
It/He hopes when others despair.
It/He perseveres when others fail.
May we live like Christ, May we love like Christ because love “does”.
For Reflection:
As I look at my life, where is my love initiating and where is my love more self-serving?
Ask God to reveal or to highlight the places and people that could use your initiating, active love.
