Yesterday in church, my pastor started a new series focused on marriage and parenting. During the message, he walked us through several key points about marriage and shared scriptures related to love. One of those scripture passages was 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
I love this scripture because it is a blueprint for how to demonstrate love through actions. As it was read in church though, all I kept hearing was “love does not keep score.” Argh. Guilty. I don’t mean to do it but I am no stranger to keeping a running list of who did what in my head. But, hearing that this isn’t love is so hard. I spent the rest of yesterday wrestling with this concept that you can’t keep score! What if the wrong was a big one? What if no one ever apologizes for the wrong? You just let it go? Argh.
To be honest, I’m still digesting this scripture. However, it made me realize that I need to ground myself more in what the Bible has to say about love and how we should be loving each other.
Below are six scriptures that I jotted down on index cards for a quick reference when I need a reminder.
- “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” – Romans 12:9
- “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” – Ephesians 4:2
- “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” – 1 John 3:18
- “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18
- “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:14
- “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” – 1 Peter 4:18
Love is perfect but I’m not. I am flawed and selfish at times but I don’t want that to keep me from focusing on what real love is and looks like. After all, that is part of the reason why I started this 13:13 series in the first place. It feels like I’m growing. I think. I don’t know. I hope so.
Do you have a favorite love-focused scripture or saying?
2 Comments
Thanks for sharing! I would love to hear more about this series!
Of course! I decided to focus on faith, hope, and love for 13 days after being inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:13 🙂