Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. 1 Corinthians 13:4 AMPC
The season of love requires clarity of thought, process and application. If I am to aplly my life to a particular concept or theory, I have to fully understand what it is, where it is from, what it is supposed to achieve in me and the end game. I cannot afford to start or pursue something simply because it is popular or well-spoken of; it has to mean more than just a buzz word. What is this love, really? Paul, writing to the church in Corinth, starts with what love is not. As I read the first 3 verses before today's extract, I get the distinct impression that what he covers in those first 3 verses is what the world celebrates as the real thing. We love the dramatic, the visible and the audible; we forget that pretence and hypocrisy are easy to engage in due to our fallen human nature. It has to mean more than just tongues, giftings of prophecy or knowledge or even a surrender of my body, simply to boast.
What is this love then, if it is not all of the above? How else do I prove love without something I can really hold on to? This is where it gets interesting: love is first internal, before it flows out. It is the process and fullness of what has been built up in me that flows out in what is the real deal. Men call it making love, because they think it is only all about what can be seen. A woman can ask a man: " Do you really love me" and most times, the reason is because she needs the visible evidence of the love. Unfortunately, real love is only of one kind, and it is the kind that God births and sustains in those who are His own. All other variants that we see: the one between husband and wife, or siblings, are offshoots of the original version. The devil too is amart, and he has his own definitions, as we also see lust and infatuation being defined as love. For every original, the devil tries to duplicate.
Check out the verse above again: Love is defined as enduring long, as patient and as kind. See the mix between the invisible and the visible. You cannot point to patience or endurance but you cannot deny its evidence in the life of a person who has them. Kindness is seen from the physical things that a person does, but as you know, you cannot give what you do not have. As I live daily and relate to people around me, the one who sits in my control centre is revealed by my life's fruits. If I am unable to rejoice at other people's successes, I need to check again the one who sits on the throne of my heart. If I am always jealous of another person's life, unable to see the great things that God is doing in mine, I need to ask God for help to see right. If I am someone who defines life by the value of my bank account balance, or my circle of influence, and if that is the basis of determining who I can relate with, I still have a lot to learn about what love truly is.
As I read the verse above, it is clear to me what God's expectations for me are. He has clearly defined for me what He wants for and from me, and what He also does not expect to see in me anymore, if I have truly surrendered my life to Him. Pride has no place in love. A desire to always be in the public eye, with a view to proving you are better than everyone else, has no place in God's definition of love. As long as I seek that which is God's, I must pursue it God's way, and follow His standard. If what I hold is not God's version, no matter how hard I pull, force or manipulate it, it will never achieve that which God desires. If what I hold is God's version of love, even if it is not popular, just hold on to it and keep at it. The one who you promote with the life of love will promote Himself in and through you. The world awaits the manifestation of the sons of God, and the loudest way we can promote it is by love. God's time of favour is here.
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