God is Love: Love Is...

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

Interesting, this is one of the most quoted and most familiar passages in the Bible, but I almost always hear it taught from a specific perspective – the perspective of our love towards others. This is used as the main passage at weddings and the main passage for teaching children --how to be nice, and the main standard for how we treat each other in church. And all of that is good, of course, but I think we might be starting from the wrong foundation.

If God is Love, then this passage is about God. And this passage is about His Love – His Love that He has toward us. As we studied in the last session, we see that “We love God, because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). Therefore our love for Him starts with Him. Furthermore, our love for others should also start with Him.

The First Commandment is “love God with all your heart soul, mind, and strength,” and the second is “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22). But how can we love our neighbor as ourself if we hate ourselves, or cannot receive God’s love for us personally? So, the key to loving God and loving others is first receiving His love toward us.

So now, let’s look at this passage a little differently – “Love is patient and kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, etc…” If God is Love, then you could actually substitute the word "God" here in place of "love." “God is patient and kind, does not envy, does not parade Himself, is not proud (puffed up), is not rude, does not seek His own…”

This is actually a description of Who God is in His very nature. Which means, that we can look at this passage as the way God relates toward us. You can say, “He is patient with me. He is kind to me. He does not envy, He is not prideful, He doesn’t show off to put others down, etc…”

When you begin to think about this passage as the way God relates to you, then you will start to feel a thankfulness, and tenderness about His love toward you, and you will be able to receive His love and His thoughts and His affections toward you. When that happens, you will also be able to love others – not from your own striving or attempt to love them, but from an overflow of the Love of God that you have already received in your heart.

So let’s pray this now.

Scripture: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

Prayer: “Jesus, Your love is patient and kind. It does no wrong. You do not envy and are not prideful. You humbled Yourself and gave Your life freely on the Cross. Thank you, Father. Fill me with your love, today. Let Your love fill my heart, and help me to love others from Your love.”

In your own words: Talk to Jesus about this passage. Focus on the area that you struggle in the most. Let Him talk to you about it.

Listen: Pause and listen for what He might say to you about His love for you. Maybe there is an area where you are not patient with yourself or kind to yourself. Talk to Him about that, and let Him show you His patience and His kindness toward you.

Write: Write in a journal or notes about what you are feeling and experiencing with the Lord in this passage. Write out certain scriptures or phrases that touch you. Go back and read this when you are feeling unloved or unwanted.

For further ideas and tools, look at the earlier sessions in this “Knowledge of God Blog Series; Part 1 – God is Love.”