Love is...

1 Corinthians 13:4-7(NLT)

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

I Corinthians 13 is a favored passage for wedding nuptials and sweetheart banquets. We love to hear its familiar strain recited aloud in tender moments with photographers poised to capture the memory. What would the camera capture if the lens were zoomed in for a close up of our daily interaction with those to whom love should be shown? Would our love pass the criteria set forth in these verses? Was I patient when someone caused me to be late? Did I act in kindness when my order was wrong at the drive thru? Am I jealous of the time my friend is spending with another? Was I hoping everyone would hear I was going on a cruise? or got the raise? Did I take time to stop and engage her or just walk on by? Was I sweetly reasonable? Did I justify my grumpiness? Was I quick to remind him of the last time he did the exact same thing? Do I think "they probably did something to deserve it?" Am I willing to press on, wait it out, continue praying, keep on believing, and stick with him/her/them through it all no matter what? I hope this brings it into perspective for us...yikes! As verse 1 states, sometimes I am only a "noisy gong or clanging cymbal."

Lord, help me to LOVE!