The definition of love God shows us in this verse is pretty much impossible for us to live up to. ![]() We don’t look out for others and we aren’t always kind. If we’re honest, most of us fall short of what love is. Who’s really patient and kind when their brother has just stolen the TV remote from them for the 725th time? Who really doesn’t envy when your friend made the football team at school and you didn’t? Who doesn’t boast and make themselves seem better to others than they really are? Who really doesn’t seek their own? Who really doesn’t keep score when others treat them wrong? ![]() Here is this big long list of stuff love is, and stuff that love isn’t. We can read this verse and feel a little overwhelmed. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. One of the places that God lays out what love looks like is in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7. In the midst of love’s complexity, we know that we all will experience love at some point in our lives. With all of the different ways people experience and define love, we can see that love is really complex. Still others look at love and think it’s romance or your crush asking you to prom. Other people see love as an emotion, others a choice. Others think love is all about doing nice things for another person or giving everyone they run into great big hugs. Others feel loved when they’re complimented, or when someone spends time with them. Some people experience love in an act of kindness. If you really think about, we all experience love in different ways. Love isn’t something that is easy to define. Regardless of your feelings about Valentine’s Day, the holiday is a time that gets us thinking about love. How do you get the ‘right’ present? How do you know if you got ‘enough’ stuff for them. However, if you’re in a relationship, it can be rough too. You can feel really left out of all the gift giving and love. If you’re single, Valentine’s Day can be a little rough. If you’ve been out recently, you’ve probably noticed that almost every store is littered with chocolates, balloons, stuffed teddy bears and flowers in anticipation for the holiday. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. With God’s help, you can be patient and kind. If you do this daily, you’ll find that you’ll become much more loving and kind than you thought you could be. Whatever it is, find a small area where you can practice patience and kindness everyday. You might let the new kid go in front of you in line at lunch. You might choose to let your brother pick the TV show you watch at night instead of arguing with him. So pick a small area each day that you can work on becoming more loving to others. One important thing to remember is that you’re not going to becoming kind and patient in one day. How do you stay kind and patient when people are mistreating you? How do you deal with those around you who just drive you crazy? It can really be hard to do the Godly thing in these situations. Have you ever been in a situation where you or someone you care about hasn’t been treated kindly. And that knowledge helps us to love others who don’t deserve it! We realize that even though we didn’t deserve it, God loved us. As you begin to think about it, it makes it easier to love others. So let the knowledge of God’s love flow into every area of your life. ![]() God gave the best He had to have a relationship with us. It was in Jesus, that God really demonstrated His love. He shows it to us in creation, as we have food to eat, air to breathe. God’s love is perfect, and unlike human love, it doesn’t have any conditions or requirements other than us accepting it. Without God showing us love, we wouldn’t know how to love. Today’s Bible verse tells us that God is love and that love comes from God. When you think about God, what do you think? Do you think of Him as someone who is loving? Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God.
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