Today's Devotional

April 12, 2005

Subject:  What Love Is

1Corinthians 13:4 - "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn't jealous.  It doesn't sing its own praises.  It isn't arrogant."

1Corinthians 13:4 - "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,"

Remember the old marketing campaign that used to say "Love is..."  There were lines like, "Love is never having to say you're sorry" or "Love is never having to  say goodbye" and there was even one that said "Love is never having to say I love you."  Well I'm sure that whomever came up with that campaign made a lot of money because you'd see those lines on bumper stickers, t-shirts, coffee mugs and lots of other items.  While it may have worked as a marketing campaign, it doesn't work as a scriptural definition of love.

I looked up love in Webster's Online Dictionary and I actually had to read up to the 4th meaning of the word before I found something that sounded like the verses above.  The first three talked about "affection" and "warm attachment" and "admiration."  Those things can all be a part of how we feel or behave towards others, but if you notice the words in the definition given by God, love is not just the way we feel or behave towards others, but also how we are ourselves, inner qualities or characterisitics.

The love character attributes defined by God don't necessarily have to do with the way we behave towards others.  However, they will ultimately manifest themselves in actions toward others.  

Today, just for a second as you pause and think of love, ponder these questions; Am I patient?  Am I kind-hearted?  Am I jealous? Am I arrogant?  The way you answer these questions won't change who you are, but it will serve as a standard to help you define if what you have is love.   

Carlen