Love Does not Envy

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  I Corinthians 13:4       

We want to know what real love is, but we also need to know what it is not.  We need to know what to avoid in the way we treat others, if we want to show God’s love to them.  The Bible tells us that love does not envy.  Jesus said that envy is evil (Mark 7:22-23). 

What is envy?  When we want something that somebody else has so much that it makes us unhappy, we are experiencing envy.  Maybe we want it so much that we would take it away from the other person if we could.  Envy is one of those things we do inside our heads – something we don’t have to show to people.  Maybe we think it is a secret from everyone, if we don’t act on our feelings, but God knows how we are feeling inside.  Jesus says that if we think things, like being envious of someone, it is still a sin--even if we don’t say or do anything about it through our actions.

When we love others, we should be happy when good things happen to them, even if we wish it had happened to us too.  God wants us to care more about loving Him and loving other people than we do about our possessions, or the job we have, or where we live. 

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.  Galatians 5:26

When you pray, ask God to help you keep your eyes focused on Him and not on things of the world.

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Love is Kind

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  I Cor. 13:4

A once popular song by the group Foreigner says “I want to know what love is…”  Don’t we all want to know that?  Not according to the songwriter, but according to someone who really knows what He is talking about: the author and finisher of our faith, the One who loves us more than we will ever be able to understand, our Father in heaven.  God’s word says that part of the answer to what real love is can be found in I Corinthians 13.  Some people call this the Love Chapter, because it tells us much about love--one of those things is that love is kind.

It is easy to be kind to people who are being kind to us, but what about when they are being mean, or selfish, or uncooperative?  If we are supposed to love others all the time, does that mean we have to be kind even when people are not kind to us?  Yes, I think that is what God wants us to do.  Jesus answered a similar question similar when Peter asked Him how often we are to forgive someone who does something bad to us.  Peter asked if forgiving seven times was enough.  Jesus said that seven is not enough, but that we are to forgive 77 times (some translations say 70 times 7).    We are to forgive over and over and over.  God does that for us when we ask Him.  Forgiving is a part of being kind, and being kind is a part of real love.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Ephesians 4:32

When you pray, thank God for being kind to you and ask for His help in being kind to others.

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Love is Patient

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  I Cor. 13:4

Love is important.  The Bible tells us that God is love.  Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves.   We know that God loved us so much that He sent his son, Jesus, to die for our sins and to show us how to live.

It is clear that love is important to God and to us.  We all want to love and to be loved, don’t we?

How can we know what real love is and how we should act to show love to others?   If we observe what we see on television, in the movies, or in magazines, will we know anything about real love?  I don’t think so.  But we know the meaning of real love because God’s Word tells us.  Our verse for today says that, among other things, love is patient.  What does that mean?

Have you ever tried to teach someone how to do something that is really easy for you--like how to ride a bike, play a game, or do math?  Is it sometimes frustrating to repeat something that seems so easy for you in order to help a friend figure it out?  When you keep on helping, you are being patient. 

When we are patient, we put others before ourselves.  Think how patient God is with us!  He waits for us to talk with Him through prayer and reading His word.  He forgives us over and over, even when we make the same mistake again and again.  He waits for us to learn lessons that seem so simple to Him.

God is patient with us and we can show His love to others by being patient too.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Colossians 3:12

When you pray, remember to thank God for showing His love by being patient.

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