LOVE NEVER FAILS

Today's church is similar to the first church in Corinth to a great extent. Just as the church in Corinth needed to emphasise love as described in the great chapter of love (1 Corinthians 13), we need the very same virtue today, which is the greatest of all virtues.

1. The church of Corinth was split into divisions and parties because people trusted in human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:1-12). Therefore, the apostle Paul told them that eloquence and philosophy did not have the first priority in his life (1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16), but that his one and only aim was to proclaim Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 3,4). For Christ tangibly revealed heavenly, self-sacrificing love to us, the love that gives without expecting anything in return.

   Today's church also needs Christ's way of thinking, for the apostle's words to the Corinthians apply to us as well: "There is jealousy and quarrelling among you" (1 Corinthians 3:3).

2. The church of Corinth had sinned by accepting a man who had married his father's widow. Perhaps it had accepted him because he was rich or held a distinguished position in society (1 Corinthians 5). If they had really loved him, they would have rebuked him for his sin so that he might repent before God. Love rebukes the sinner because it hates sin and loves the sinner. We also need that love today, which rebukes in order to bring people to repentance, as the sage says: "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful" (Proverbs 27:6).

3. The Corinthians had evinced a quarrelsome spirit which loved problems and controversies so much that one of them even took his cases against his brother believers to be judged by the pagan civil court (1 Corinthians 6). Love trusts the church and the believers. "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?" (1 Corinthians 6:2). Think about how many lawsuits Christians have against other Christians in civil courts today!

4. The church of Corinth had sent a letter to the apostle Paul asking him about marriage (1 Corinthians 7) and food offered to idols, whether to eat it or abstain from it (1 Corinthians 8-10). Love is the solution. It is the answer to every question. For a man ought to love his wife as Christ loves the church, and the foundation of a happy home is true love. Moreover, love causes us to be sensitive to others, who agree or disagree with us on eating meat offered to idols or abstaining from it.

   Today, we also need the chapter of love (1 Corinthians 13) in order to build our homes on love, our intellectual relationships with those around us on the foundation of love and our opinion of others starting with love.

5. The church of Corinth also asked Paul about the behaviour of women in the church (1 Corinthians 11:1-16). Love is the answer, for the one who loves, submits to the order of the church because he loves the Lord of the church. A good wife, whose heart is filled with love, does not speak loudly, nor does she disturb the purity of worship in the house of the Lord.

6. The church of Corinth also asked about the agape, or love, meal which used to precede Holy Communion (1 Corinthians 11:17-37). Here also, love is the answer. For the agape meal is an expression of the unity of the body, which is the church, and which will eat the same one bread and drink from the same one cup.

7. The apostle Paul also talked about the spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12,14). There were some Corinthians who were proud of their gifts although these were given freely by God and were not earned by anyone's effort. The gifts are granted freely by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and those who possess them, whether they are natural talents or supernatural gifts, must use them for serving the body of Christ.

   In between the two chapters where Paul speaks about the gifts he presents the better way to us, which we should accept eagerly (1 Corinthians 12:31). For anyone who wants to show his zeal for Christ and his desire to build up His church must be perfect in love.

8. In 1 Corinthians 15 we find the discourse on the resurrection. Christ loved us, so He came to us as a baby laid in a manger. He lived humbly among us here on earth, was crucified for our sake, died and was buried. He rose from the dead on the third day to be the firstborn of those who had passed away, to raise up everyone who believes in Him from the death of his sin, and to raise him up from the grave on the last day (John 5:28,31). Everyone who has risen from the death of his sin and awaits the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come, will give himself fully to the work of the Lord. He knows that his labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). For love is the essence of the life we need to live today. The great example of love is Christ, Who is Himself love incarnate. If you read the descriptions of love found in chapter 13 and substitute "Christ" for the word "love", you will find the meaning clear and true. Then you will read "Christ suffers long and is kind; Christ does not parade Himself, He is not puffed up; He does not behave rudely, He does not seek His own ...." In Christ you find love become flesh.

   Love was evident in Christ's life and teaching. He said about His sacrificial love: "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13). He considered His sinful enemies His friends. He washed the feet of His disciples, thereby showing perfect love. "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1).

   Love was evidently the essence of His doctrine. He said, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another" (John 13:35). "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12).

   When He was asked about the first and most important commandment, He answered: "The first of all the commandments is: `Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.' This is the first commandment. The second is this: `You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:29-31).

Now, let us study the chapter of love, love that "never fails". We may divide it into three sections:

1. The importance of love (verses 1-3)

2. The attributes of love (verses 4-7)

3. The perpetuity of love (verses 8-13)

(1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Today's church is very much like the church in Corinth. The church today is divided into many denominations, like the church in Corinth. Today's church is also more concerned with the gifts of the Holy Spirit than with the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which begins with love (Galatians 5:22-23). Further, the church today is concerned with the gifts that attract the attention of the onlooker, e.g. speaking in tongues or healing, rather than the more important gifts like serving, teaching, encouraging, contributing to the needs of others, leadership, showing mercy and love (Romans 12:6-9).

The apostle Paul deals with the spiritual gifts in chapters 12 and 14 of 1 Corinthians, but puts the chapter on love in between these. We need to meditate these days on the chapter of love in order that it may adjust our gifts and focus our potentials, whether natural or supernatural, correctly.

The apostle Paul says at the end of chapter 12, "Earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I will show you a more excellent way" (verse 31). By this he means the way of love. We need to apply the teaching of this chapter in order to prove that we are disciples of Christ.

We have become used to hearing about love from the apostle of love, John. He is called "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23). We may also say that he is the disciple who loved Christ, for John's love of Christ is a true, faithful and strong echo of Christ's love of John. He says: "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). But the apostle Paul drops his bucket into the deep well of love in order to extract this living water for us, which we read about in 1 Corinthians 13.

The apostle Paul also tells us in Galatians 5:6 about the faith which saves, faith expressing itself through love, for he says: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love" (Galatians 5:6).

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing."

The importance of love lies in the fact that it is the proof of being a disciple of Jesus, for He said: "By this all will know that you are My disciples if you have love one for another" (John 13:35).

	Love is more important than tongues and eloquence

"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal." (1 Corinthians 13:1)

By "tongues of angels" the apostle Paul may mean a language more sublime than any language spoken or known by human beings, like the language which he heard when he was caught up to the third heaven and heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell (2 Corinthians 12:4). "Tongues of angels" may also mean the foreign languages which those who were filled with the Holy Spirit spoke on the day of Pentecost. In any case, speaking any language, however sublime and however much above human understanding it may be, is like sounding brass or clanging cymbals without love. These are very simple, basic, cheap musical instruments, and the rhythm they produce is the simplest possible, so they don't move anyone. So, fantastic eloquence and sublime language, however exalted, are like the simplest and cheapest musical instruments, if they are without love.

The apostle Paul is not speaking here about the understandable languages which God gave to His apostles on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:4), but about unintelligible languages which people in the Corinthian church were speaking. The apostle Paul says about them: "For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries... I wish you all to spoke with tongues, but I even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification. But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying or by teaching? Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?... Yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.... Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?" (1 Corinthians 14:2,5-7,19,23).

So tongues, however lofty, if they are unintelligible, they do not move nor stimulate anyone who listens to them. But a word of instruction edifies.

The Corinthians were uttering words unintelligible to anyone. And in uttering them, their sentiments were devoid of love. The reason is that they were proud of their gift towards others. So their barbaric words gave no blessing to the hearers. On the contrary, they were just a source of personal self-exaltation, for love was absent from them.

When someone has little love, he will be concerned with God's gift to him and forget the Giver. In the same way a child who gets a gift takes it from his father and runs away with it without thanking him, because the child is more concerned with the gift than with the father who gave it. But a child's way of thinking is simple. In the same way we find many people who are more concerned with their spiritual gifts than with the Giver of the gifts. However, love is more important than the gifts, because love unites us with the Lord of the gifts and makes us use the gifts in the best way, in readiness to serve others. But if we concentrate on the gift itself without loving the Giver and without regard for the purpose for which He gave it to us, our gift will be like a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal, no matter how exalted it may seem in our or anyone's eyes!

When someone has little love, he will be proud because of God's gift to him. Feeling his pride, the other believers keep away from him. In this situation his gift does not build. It destroys. Instead of uniting, it separates. This is why the gift is useless without love.

There were orators in the early church who proclaimed the Gospel and preached Christ out of envy, contentiousness and factionalism. They were insincere, supposing that they could stir up trouble for the apostle Paul (Philippians 1:15-16). They were teachers and their rhetoric was convincing, but their motives were devoid of love. So they were nothing but a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. However, the apostle Paul explained what he felt about the work of such teachers, saying: "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice. For I know that this will turn out for my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:18,19). This is the most eloquent love, more exalted than any rhetoric!

	Love is more important than prophecy and knowledge

"Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2a)

The apostle Paul defined prophecy thus: "He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men" (1 Corinthians 14:3). Prophecy is not only foretelling the future, but it is teaching and exhortation for people. In the chapter of love, the apostle affirms that prophecy without love is nothing. For the one who exhorts must love those whom he exhorts. The one who foretells a future blessing must love those to whom he foretells it. The one who foretells a future punishment must announce it with every compassion towards those who are to be punished, as Jeremiah said: "Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people" (Jeremiah 9:1).

Knowledge as a gift is the knowledge of deep spiritual secrets which we preach about. Prophecy and knowledge are connected, for the one who knows mysteries is the one who will teach them in preaching. The greatest mystery which reveals God's love towards us is "the mystery of godliness" (1 Timothy 3:16). God loved the world so much that He came into our world in the flesh, in Christ, in order to manifest His love to us and to take away from us the punishment for our sin, offering Himself up as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. How can God love sinful mankind all that much? This is a heavenly mystery, but its proof is the incarnation of Christ.

There is another great mystery: God has chosen us Gentiles to share the heritage of all those of the chosen Jewish people who accepted Christ. This is "the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him" (Romans 16:25-26). So, the Gentiles have become fellow inheritors, because God so loved the whole world.

The psalmist tells us: "The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him" (Psalm 25:14). God declares the secrets of His kingdom to those who confide in Him, because He loves them and they love Him. If anyone knew all the secrets of heaven and taught them without having a heart full of love, he would be nothing. The Jewish religious leaders knew all the secrets of the prophecies of the coming of Christ and His birth in Bethlehem from a virgin. And when they were asked about the place where He was to be born, they answered correctly, quoted the prophecy about it, and specified where it was found in the Torah (Matthew 2:5-6). However, not one of them set out to go to Bethlehem in order to see the Saviour born in the town of David and longed for by all the nations. As for those who loved God, they came from the most far-away countries to search for Him, and they offered Him gifts.

We read about a prophet called Balaam in the Old Testament. He said: "The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, and the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened; the utterance of him who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High" (Numbers 24:15,16). Balaam declared the oneness of God, he was from the homeland of Abraham, the friend of God, and his reputation was so widespread that people came to him from all over so that he could foretell their future and bless them and their purchases. His heart, however, had no love for the people of God. It was full of the love of money, for King Balak hired him to curse the children of Israel. When he was unable to do so because God hindered him, he advised the king to ensnare them to worship idols and engage in unclean acts. He ended up being killed by the sword (Numbers 31:16). The apostle Peter described the people who go astray like this: "They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness" (2 Peter 2:15). So the prophet Balaam became nothing, because his heart was devoid of love.

Also in the New Testament we read about a prophecy from a prophet with a heart devoid of love. The Gospel describes him in this way: "And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, `You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.' Now he did not say this on his own authority, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad" (John 11:49-52). Caiaphas foretold the death of Christ for the whole world, and his prophecy was true, but he was devoid of love, for Caiaphas plotted with the other Jewish leaders to have Christ crucified.

There may be a great preacher whose heart is devoid of love. He may even be able to make a message of God's love reach a person who needs it. People are not influenced, however, by the great eloquence by which he proclaims his prophecy and his knowledge if he has no love. For without love we cannot come close to God, and we cannot bring people close to God.

Love is greater than prophecy and knowledge because it comes at a time when we need neither exhortation nor knowledge, but it never comes at a time when we do not need love. The Gospel describes the time when we do not need exhortation in the words of the writer of the book of Hebrews: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, says the LORD, I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbour, and none his brother, saying, `Know the LORD', for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them" (Hebrews 8:10,11).

	Love is greater than faith and miracles

"Though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2b)

In 10th century Egypt (AD), during the Fatimid reign, a Jewish minister went to the Caliph saying: "It is written in the Gospel of the Christians that if someone has faith like a mustard seed, he can move a mountain." So the Fatimid Caliph al-Aziz Billah challenged the Egyptian Patriarch and asked him if it was true that this verse was found in the Gospel. When the Patriarch confirmed that it was found in Matthew 21:22, the Caliph asked the Patriarch to move Mount Moqattam. God heard the prayer of faith. He moved the mountain! The results were great.

There is intellectual faith which knows what is written in the Bible, which knows how to answer difficult religious questions, and which knows how to solve problems of interpretation. However, it is the faith of a knowledgeable mind, not the faith of a serene heart. It is like the faith of the unclean spirits who believe and shudder, but do not undergo any change (James 2:19).

Love is greater than miracle-working faith. Faith performs a great miracle (as, for instance, moving Mount Moqattam) once in every age, whereas love is in action every day. That is why love is greater than faith.

The apostle Paul does not diminish the importance of faith, nor does he reduce the value of a miracle, but he reminds us that love is indispensable and necessary every day. Faith that moves mountains causes astonishment, but love breaks a hard heart. A person may be astonished without believing, just like the Jewish elders were astonished at the raising of Lazarus after he had been dead for four days and could not deny that Christ had performed the miracle. But it only made them think about how they could kill Lazarus in order to do away with the proof of Christ's power and authority! So a miracle does not move the heart which has been dazzled by it, but it helps the heart which loves God and increases its faith!

In Exodus 7:11-12 we read about how Moses threw his stick down and it turned into a snake. However, the Egyptian sorcerers also threw their sticks down and they turned into snakes. This was a miracle. In the same chapter in verses 20 and 22 we read about how Moses changed water into blood and how the sorcerers imitated him. The difference between Moses' miracle and that of the sorcerers is that there was love in that of Moses, because it proclaimed God's concern for His people. As for Pharaoh's sorcerers, they performed their miracle in order to destroy that of Moses, to extinguish the proof of God, because their hearts, devoid of love as they were, wanted to keep their slaves. As for God's miracle, it is one which sets the captive free. How big the difference between the two! To people like Pharaoh's sorcerers Christ says: "Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord', shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!"' (Matthew 7:21-23).

	Love is greater than zeal and fervor

"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:3)

Many people give without love. They are motivated by a desire to receive praise from others and by pride in themselves. A man may also give out of a sense of obligation. How great, however, is the difference between something given out of vanity or compulsion and something given out of love! In Mark 12:41-44 we read, "Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Him, and said to them, `Assuredly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had, her whole livelihood."' For the Lord sees how and in which spirit the gift is given, and He only appreciates true giving, giving out of love.

"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor" without having love, may benefit the poor but the giver himself will receive nothing from God!

"Though I give my body to be burned" - there are people who do surrender their bodies to the flames for the love of God, as Nebuchadnezzar saw the three young men do, saying: "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king's words and yielded their bodies that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God" (Daniel 3:28). For the Lord saved the bodies of the three young men from the fire because they had surrendered them for the love of God. There are others, however, who surrender their bodies to be burned because they hate people, like the crusaders who died, burned alive whilst killing and shedding blood, although Christ's weapon was the sword of the Spirit, which is God's word (Ephesians 6:17). They did this in spite of His word: "All who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52).

In these three verses, the apostle Paul has taught us that love is the greatest of all, be it gifts, prophecy, teaching, faith, miracles, zeal and fervor.

Our primary spiritual problem is our lack of order in our priorities. Our first priority should be love, then gifts, prophecy, and knowledge, and after these faith and miracles, followed by zeal and fervor.

May God teach us to love, not only those who love us, but also those who do evil against us, as Christ loved us and surrendered Himself for our sakes.

	PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you have taught us love in your word and in Christ, because you are love. You have loved us enemies, because when we were still sinners, Christ died for us. By the virtue of His atonement you forgave all our sins and made us fellow heirs with Christ. We ask you to make our life a life of love so that we may live the song of love with all our heart and mind, and love in the way you love. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

(1 Corinthians 13:4)

Now we have seen the importance of love. Let us then consider how love is described (verse 4-7). The apostle Paul names fifteen adjectives for love. In this chapter we will consider the first two of them.

1. "Love suffers long": This means that it is patient and has great perseverance, is slow to anger, does not cut off a relationship with another and repeatedly gives new chances to everyone, even those who do evil against it.

2. "Love is kind": This is because it is gentle. The original Greek word means "sweet to everyone".

God has given us the most sublime example of patience and kindness. For when our original parents fell into transgression, God came to them stretching out a loving hand, but then Adam said to God: "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Genesis 3:10). Adam cast the blame on Eve. Eve in turn cast it on the serpent. In spite of this, God in His love ordained salvation and atonement for our original parents. He gave them the mighty promise that the offspring of the woman would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). Afterwards, God covered them with garments made out of animal skins. How great God's love is! It is patient and kind for it promised that the Saviour would come, then it covered their shame. Later, it gave the Law of Moses with its animal sacrifices, which symbolised the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and who entered the Most Holy Place once for all and obtained eternal redemption for us (John 1:27, Hebrews 9:12).

God could have put an end to Adam and made a new beginning, creating another man, but God in His kindness and patience gave Adam a second chance.

We see God's patience and kindness clearly all through the history of the children of Israel in that He sent them prophets again and again, teaching them lesson after lesson although they repeatedly committed the same sin. In the story of the life of the prophet Hosea we see God training His prophet to have the same feelings as God Himself toward His people. God asked Hosea to enter into a relationship with a fallen woman, just like God had a relationship with a fallen people. The fallen woman, however, fell again. When she first fell, her value diminished, and when she fell repeatedly, she lost her value completely. But God asked Hosea to marry her again anyway, because He wanted to tell Hosea and the whole people that He loved His people in spite of all their sins. God said: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. As they called them, so they went from them; they sacrificed to the Baals and burned incense to carved images. I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them" (Hosea 11:1-4).

In spite of the sin of the people and their faithlessness towards God, he expresses His love and fatherly sentiments to them, as the One who teaches them to walk step by step and who hands them food! Then He says: "How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I set you like Zeboiim?" (Hosea 11:8) or: How can I destroy your land (in spite of your sins) so that you will become like Admah and Zeboiim? These are two cities in the vicinity of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 10:19), which God destroyed by fire because of their sins. God continues: "My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred!" For the Lord cannot bear to destroy them because His love causes Him to have patience with them and be gentle towards them.

We see the same patient and kind love in the way Christ dealt with His disciples, whom He loved and taught and who walked with Him for three years. However, at His crucifixion, they all became afraid and ran away. Nevertheless, Christ told the two Marys after His resurrection: "Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me" (Matthew 28:10).

Christ elucidates the patience of love in the parable of the fig tree which would not yield any fruit. Its owner said to the man who took care of the land, "`For three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?' He answered and said to him, `Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig round it and fertilise it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down"' (Luke 13:7-9).

This divine patience and kindness we experience clearly in our own daily lives, for God blesses us and shows us mercy although we sin, fall away from Him and grumble against Him. But He loves us with His perfect love in spite of our weaknesses. This urges us to live a life of love which is patient and kind to all as "followers of God, as dear children" (Ephesians 5:1).

Let us look at how we can live a life of love by seeing:

	The characteristics of long-suffering and kindness

Love which suffers long and is kind, is patient without despairing.

Love which suffers long and is kind, is patient and does not lose its hope. It gives a second chance to others, as God always gives us a second chance when we miss a chance or misbehave.

When a believer falls and makes a mistake, he knows that God loves him and turns a new page for him, for He says: "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to Me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me; He will bring me forth to the light, and I will see His righteousness" (Micah 7:8-9). For the Lord brings the believer into the light and shows him heavenly righteousness. As God treats the fallen believer in this loving way, He motivates the believer to deal with others as the Lord dealt with him.

Christ was kind toward His disciple Thomas, who doubted the reality of the resurrection, saying: "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe." So Christ showed Himself to His disciples, including Thomas, and told him: "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing." Then Thomas exclaimed: "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:24-28).

Love which suffers long and is kind will continue to exist and never cease.

Love which suffers long and is kind will never cease, for it continues to give even though people do evil again and again.

When Absalom staged his failed coup against his father, King David, the children of Israel split into two camps; one was for Absalom and another was for David. But David's patient love for his son made him command his followers to be kind and gentle to the young man Absalom (2 Samuel 18:5). He saw a "young man", an inexperienced boy, in his son who was rebellious against him, so he felt pity with him for what he had done! And when David heard that his son had been killed, he cried in agony: "O my son Absalom - if only I had died in your place!"

A certain young man committed many crimes and ended up in prison. His mother would always go to see him in prison, bringing so many gifts for him that she became indebted and her health deteriorated. She continued to do this although he would receive her with abuse every time she came to visit. Now the mother had a neighbour who advised her to stop visiting her son, because she became exhausted and never found any appreciation from her son. But she told her neighbour: "It is true that he never appreciates what I do, but I appreciate him. He only has one mother, who only has a short time to live!" This is a mother's love, and it will remain, because it is the love which is patient and kind and long-suffering, capable of giving without stopping because its source is in heaven.

Love which suffers long and is kind preserves the inner peace of the one who has it.

Love suffers long and is kind, even in the midst of troubles and pains. It fills the heart of the one who has this kind of love with deep peace from God, who says: "In your patience possess your souls" (Luke 21:19). It is true that love benefits those whom we love, but before that it benefits those of us who love ourselves because by loving patiently we shall save ourselves.

Love which suffers long and is kind will meet with obstructions.

There is a sound piece of advice which says: "Do not expect much from people in order that your hope may not be disappointed. See to it, however, that people who expect good things from you, will not be disappointed." Only kind love can execute this command, because it is a wellspring gushing forth in an abundance drawn from everlasting sources which never run dry, the river of redeeming, boundless love.

The one who has patient love does not stop loving, even if people strike a blow at it. Such a man behaves like Christ, who healed the ear of Malchus although Malchus came in order to arrest Him. Christ received the blow Malchus struck without striking back. Christ was not disappointed. Instead, Christ did well towards Malchus.

The apostle Paul told the pastors of the church of Ephesus: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with His own blood... Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears" (Acts 20:28,31).

	Objections to long-suffering and kindness

Many people complain about their spouse, their children, their boss at work, their business partner or their neighbour. And when you advise them not to return evil for evil, they object.

I will mention three objections to long-suffering and kindness and then present answers to them.

1. One says:

   "The evil done to me is extremely serious. They did me much harm, and I cannot be long-suffering or kind, because I have been deeply wounded."

   To this person we recommend three things:

   What the evil people have done to you cannot possibly be greater than the evil you have done towards the Lord and other people. Even so, the Lord puts up with you. We usually forget the evil we do to others, while we remember the evil others do to us. We must remember the apostolic advice: "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32).

   In the Lord's Prayer and Christ's comment on it, we have something which will help us to love patiently and kindly. For Christ taught us to pray: "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors... For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But it you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:12,14,15).

   Christ has suffered long with evil-doers and with those who have suffered evil. So let us be long-suffering as the Lord has suffered long with us. Let us pray that the Lord will treat the ones who do evil against us with the same long-suffering with which He has treated us.

   We can give another piece of advice to the one who says that he has been seriously wronged: Christ bears the evil perpetrated against you together with you. The proof of this is that when Saul of Tarsus reached out to do evil against the believers, Christ said to him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?... I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:4,5). We also read in the prophecy of Zechariah: "He who touches you touches the apple of His eye" (Zechariah 2:8), which means that he who does evil against us wrongs himself, or he does evil against God Himself. For Christ suffers with us when we suffer. God says through the prophet Isaiah: "In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and in his pity He redeemed them; and He bore them and carried them all the days of old" (Isaiah 63:9).

   Christ called you to carry His simple, easy yoke, the yoke of obeying His commandments. If you carry Christ's yoke in obedience to His command, "Take my yoke upon you" (Matthew 11:29), He will carry the yoke with you!

   The third advice to the one who says that he has been seriously wronged is Christ's word: "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelations 2:10). It is true that the wrong suffered is serious, but our faithfulness towards the Lord makes us long-suffering and help us love patiently and kindly, so that we may be worthy of the name "faithful until death" and gain "the crown of life".

2. The one who advances the second objection says:

   "The evil-doers never seem to stop inflicting injury upon me and they do not repent, and it is apparent that they will not change their attitude toward me."

   The question is: Are their evil deeds caused by some wrongdoing on the part of the one who objects, or by the mere fact that they are evil-doers? Let us listen to the apostle Peter's advice:

   "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable if, because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: `Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth;' who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness" (1 Peter 2:18-24).

   Let us examine ourselves: Do we suffer because of a sin we have committed? If this is the case, let us repent before the Lord so that He will show mercy to us, to our God "for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7). If however you suffer while doing good, you are blessed. I hope that you will keep looking steadfastly at Christ, who suffered while He served, sought and saved what was lost, so that you may be like Him and He may grant you rescue.

3. The one who advances the third objection says:

   "If I would show them patience and kindness, they would increase their harassments and evil deeds."

   We will answer:

   How do you know that the enemies will harass you even more tomorrow? None of us can foretell what tomorrow will bring, for tomorrow is in God's hands. "Tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matthew 6:34). The Lord will intervene at the right time to change the harassment into good, as Joseph told his brothers: "Am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good" (Genesis 50:19-20).

   There is another truth: God always stands by those who obey His commandments. Saint Augustine said: "Do the will of God as if it were your own, and God does your will as if it were His." When you obey God, He takes responsibility for everything which results from obedience to His commands. The apostle Paul commands us: "Earnestly desire the best gifts. And now I will show you a more excellent way... Love suffers long and is kind." So if we obey this blessed command, God will take responsibility for us, and blessing will always be upon the obedient.

   There is also a third truth: How great is the apostolic commandment! "Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, `Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy hungers, feed him; if he thirsts, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:17-21).

   Love which suffers long and is kind changes the life of the one who loves as well as the one who is loved. It brings the one who has gone far astray back to the house of the Father. As God's long-suffering, kind love leads you to open your heart to Christ the Saviour so that He in His love can rule over it as king, love the one who does evil against you in order to bring his soul back and lead it into the paths of righteousness.

	PRAYER

O, Lord of patience and kindness, teach me to be long-suffering and kind as you are towards me. You bore with me until I opened my heart to you. Help me to bear with those who do evil against me, for your sake as well as for their sake, so that we may possess our souls in our patience. Help me to have faith expressing itself through love. Forgive me my grumbling and annoyance, and bring me to repent before you that I may love you and those whom you love, so that we may be disciples of Jesus. In His name, hear our prayer. Amen.

(1 Corinthians 13:4)

True faith is active, expressing itself through love. Faith without works is the faith of the evil spirits who believe and tremble (James 2:19). The fruits of true faith must appear in the life of the believer every day. As believers who love Jesus we must read the chapter of love often, more often than we have usually done, in order to grasp what the life of love is like, the life which the Lord wants us to live.

In this chapter let us consider the second one of the attributes of love: "Love does not envy."

Envy is the annoyance we feel at a person who has something we do not have. It may be just a thought pattern (as St. Thomas Aquinas says) of regret at other people's success. Maybe this was the situation of the Corinthian believers. Some of those who had gifts may have looked down on those who had not, and these may have looked in envy towards those who had gifts!

However, envy may develop into something more than that, inflicting harm upon the one who is envied. A good example is what happened when Joseph's brothers saw Joseph wearing a coloured shirt, which was nicer than any that they had. Their envy became so strong that they threw him into an empty water cistern and then sold him to the Ishmaelites.

Envy always harms the one who envies and destroys his peace of mind, because the envious concentrates on what others have and does not see what he himself has. Therefore he does not enjoy what is given to him by God's grace. This depressive way of looking at things always makes him miserable.

In a church in Padua in Italy there is a fresco representing envy. It was painted by the Italian artist Giotto, a friend of Dante. It represents envy as a person who has long ears so that he can hear any bad rumour about others. His tongue is shaped like a snake so that he can poison the reputation of others. The tongue is also curled up so that the envious person can strike his own eyes! The artist wanted to say that an envious person blinds himself so that he can no longer see what he himself has, and does evil against others.

Let us quote two verses from both the Old and the New Testament of the Bible forbidding us to envy: "Do not fret because of evil-doers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity" (Psalm 37:1). "Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another" (Galatians 5:26). That is to say: Let us not waste our time looking at what others have instead of thanking God for what He has given us.

It is strange for a believer to envy the nonbeliever for having material success. Asaph says: "I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked" (Psalm 73:3). This shows us that there is no human being who is sinless, and there is no life without temptations. The believers always have to be awake and watch out for the Devil's temptations in order not to fall into despicable sin like envy, and in order to be filled with God's peace so that they may enjoy a sound spirit in the Lord.

I will mention four things that help us to deal with envy:

	Being thankful helps us to deal with envy, for love gives thanks, whereas envy grumbles.

When David had killed Goliath, the women of Israel cheered: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." This annoyed King Saul, so he said: "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me but thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?" (1 Samuel 18:7-8).

David did in fact kill tens of thousands, so the enemies fled leaving the people of God in peace for a long time. Saul did not even kill thousands, for the enemies stood still before him for forty days, mocking and ridiculing him and his God, and Saul could do nothing! The songs of praise were true as far as David was concerned and they honoured Saul more than necessary. Nevertheless, the envy in Saul's soul prevented him from being happy at the victory. The result of his envy was that he destroyed himself, for he left his castle, his throne and his royal sceptre to pursue David and to kill him. David was just a soldier in King Saul's army. The throne was Saul's, but he was so sick with envy in his heart that he always grumbled, destroying his own life and making his people miserable as he was trying in vain to scare David. At last, Saul committed suicide and David became king. If Saul had been able to think logically, he would have considered David an instrument of God. He was a soldier among others and the Lord gave victory by his hands. But envy blinded Saul's eyes from the truth.

As a contrast to Saul we see David giving thanks. Love gives thanks and does not grumble. David says: "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits; who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psalm 103:1-5). So let us shift our view from looking at what others have and give thanks for what we ourselves have. Then we shall always be at peace, protected from the sin of envy.

	Considering what we have helps us against envy, for love sees what it has, while envy sees what it is lacking.

In the book of Numbers we read the evil result which befell Korah's sons when they envied Moses and Aaron their ministry. "Now Korah the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men; and they rose up before Moses with some of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation representatives of the congregation, men of renown. They gathered together against Moses and Aaron and said to them, `You take too much upon yourselves, for all the congregation is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?"' (Numbers 16:1-3).

When we consider this complaint, we see that half of what they said was true, for the congregation was in fact holy because the Lord was in its midst. But the other half was wrong: "Why then do you exalt yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?" For God Himself had appointed Moses and Aaron as leaders of His people. They had not appointed themselves, for God had called them, installed them and sent them to Pharaoh. He used them to bless His people and release them from bondage. Korah's sons ought to have been sensible enough to give thanks for the blessing God had given them and their people through Moses and Aaron. However, the envy that filled their hearts put an end to their blessing, even to their life, as the earth cracked open and swallowed them up with all they had, so that they fell down into hell alive (Numbers 16:31)!

The most striking example of envy is the envy which the Jewish leaders harboured against Christ. He came to be their Saviour, the One whom generations had been waiting for, fulfilling the prophecies. However, they refused and turned Him over to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate to be crucified. After Pilate had investigated their accusations he knew that Christ was innocent and that they had handed Him over out of envy (Matthew 27:18). They were envious of Him because the people followed Him out of love for Him. They expressed their confidence in Him by shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" "Hosanna" means "Save, O Lord!" This is a prayer as well as an expression of joy and salutation at Christ's coming. The Jewish elders said to each other: "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!" (John 12:19). They decided to kill Him and as they did not have the authority to carry it out, they sought Pilate's help for that.

It was a strange thing with them! They ought to have been overjoyed at Christ, the mighty teacher and miracle-worker, the awaited Messiah. But their hearts were devoid of love, filled with envy, and so they handed Him over to Pilate.

How big the difference between them and John the Baptist, who loved God and Christ and who witnessed that Christ was "the lamb of God". He led his disciples to follow Christ, saying about Him: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). Truly, love does not envy.

	Joy helps us against envy, for love rejoices in what is good, whereas envy is annoyed with it.

A splendid example of love rejoicing in what is good for others is the love of Jonathan, the son of king Saul, for David. When David had killed Goliath, "Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armour, even to his sword and his bow and his belt" (1 Samuel 18:3-4). When Saul envied David and wanted to kill him, Jonathan warned David of the plot and defended David before his father (1 Samuel 19:3; 20:32). Jonathan asked David to be good to his offspring when he had come to power (1 Samuel 20:15). Jonathan really loved David and rejoiced at the salvation God granted His people through David, even though it was against Jonathan's own interests.

Love rejoices at that which increases the common good because it knows that a man does not increase when others decrease. The book of Daniel tells us about the honour bestowed on Daniel during the reign of king Darius: "It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. Then these men said, `We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God"' (Daniel 6:1-5).

Did these leaders not know that Daniel's success was not his alone, but the whole country's and theirs as well? They ought to have been thankful for a prime minister so intelligent, virtuous and trustworthy that all the affairs of the state were conducted successfully and peacefully. But envy made them blind, so that they saw nothing in Daniel but the leader occupying an honourable position of responsibility which they reckoned themselves more worthy of. So they set up a plot against him. However, the Lord rescued him from it (Daniel 6).

	Peace helps us against envy, for love lives in peace, while envy lives in anxiety.

When a man loves his God, he loves his fellow human beings as well. When people love, their hearts are filled with peace flowing from heaven like the peace that overflowed Christ's heart when He was on His way to the cross and said to His disciples: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).

The one who envies, however, destroys his peace of mind, for he is always aspiring to what others have, neglecting to be thankful for what he himself has. How beautiful the apostolic advice: "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection" (Colossians 3:12-15).

Compare Joseph's peace of mind when he honoured his father and his brothers, with the anxiety raging in his brothers' hearts when they said to each other: "We are truly guilty concerning our brother, for we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not hear; therefore this distress has come upon us" (Genesis 42:21). Compare also Joseph's peace of mind at his return from his father's funeral, who had been shown full honour, and the anxiety of Joseph's brothers which threatened to tear their chests apart when they said: "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him" (Genesis 50:15). These words show us that anxiety was latent within their souls, giving their hearts no rest all the time they stayed in Egypt and their father was still alive.

Love gives peace, envy stirs up anxiety! So let us ask God to let His love dominate our hearts, His love which "does not envy".

	PRAYER

Our Father, we thank you for giving and honouring us in abundance and for never letting us be put to shame. Grant us that we may see how you have opened your hand and satisfied us with good things. Make our hearts overflow with the joy of your Holy Spirit, that we may rejoice at yourself and your gifts. Make your love grow in us. Take away all envy from within us, and grant that we may honour our belonging to you by our life and our efforts, in order that we may live the life of the faith we profess. In the name of Christ. Amen.

(1 Corinthians 13:4)

Someone who has spiritual gifts is more exposed to the temptation of boasting about what he has. A famous preacher may boast about his preaching talents. Someone who does good may be proud of giving food to the poor. But true, sincere love does not boast about what it does because it does it for the sake of Christ's name and by the power given by Christ.

Boasting was one of the faults of the church of Corinth, for its believers split into factions. Each one would boast of the apostle they claimed to be following. Some boasted about Paul, some about Apollos, but the apostle Paul told them: "... that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other" (meaning: Do not become puffed up with pride of belonging to any special group). "For who makes you differ from another?" (Meaning: Who made you different from others?) "And what do you have that you did not receive?" (Meaning: Everything you possess is a gift.) "Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you glory as if you had not received it?" (1 Corinthians 4:6-7). So the apostle asks his hearers to side neither with himself nor with Apollos, for none of them possesses anything or is special in any way. If they possess anything or are special it is by God's grace, it is a gift from Him, and it is nothing earned by personal merit.

The apostle Paul also says: "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies" (1 Corinthians 8:1). A person who knows much may be puffed up by his knowledge, but he does not grow or advance in human or spiritual stature by what he has learned except when love rises like the sun to illuminate his heart.

Why did Paul not say "Love is humble" instead of "Love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up"? Why did he not describe love positively instead of negatively? Maybe the Corinthians were boasting about their humility, turning this virtue into the vice of pride.

There are two great commandments which sum up all other commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbour as yourself." If you love God with all your heart you cannot possibly boast or grow proud, because you will understand that all you have is from God, the source of all grace. If you love your fellow human beings you cannot possibly become puffed up against them. Instead, you will stand with them in humility because you are the servant of God, the lover of mankind, who gives of Himself and what He has. He is represented by Christ who did not come to be served but to serve and give Himself up as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

Three reasons why love does not parade itself:

	Love understands that parading itself is living according to the flesh.

We may live the "life of the flesh" or the "life of the Spirit". The flesh fights against the Spirit and resists it so strongly that we do what we do not want to do. Therefore, the apostle counsels us to "walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). So we see that love does not boast because the Holy Spirit controls it, as the apostle Paul says: "Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit" (Romans 8:5). This love, which is subjected to the Holy Spirit, does not behave according to the flesh, which parades itself.

The flesh was behind King Nebuchadnezzar's behaviour. This poor man said: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honour of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30). It was not Nebuchadnezzar himself who built Babylon and he did not pay the building expenses out of his own pocket, but he enjoyed the fruits of the efforts of the people who paid tribute and the drawings, foundations and building works undertaken by the well-qualified architects and engineers.

The flesh was also behind the behaviour of Salome, the mother of John and James, the two sons of Zebedee, for she asked Christ: "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your kingdom" (Matthew 20:21). The Lord did not promise her anything of what she requested; however, the other disciples became indignant at her request as though Christ had actually granted what she had requested! In her request and the disciples' indignation we see how proud Salome was of her two sons, and how proud and conceited the other disciples were, as they must have reckoned themselves to be greater than the two sons of Zebedee! Perhaps each of them was saying to himself: Now, if John and James sit at His right and His left, where will I sit?! Christ said to all of them: "Can you go through the baptism I am going to go through?" Jesus' baptism meant that His whole life was one of humility and love, and this is the life He intends for us when we are baptised, because He is gentle and humble in heart.

The flesh was also behind the dispute between the disciples as to which of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24). They thought that the kingdom of Christ was a political, earthly one. But Christ corrected this way of thinking, which belongs to sinful nature, telling them: "He who is greatest among you let him be like the younger, and he who governs as he who serves... I am among you as the One who serves" (Luke 22:26-27).

It is clear that mankind according to its usual way of thinking tends towards boasting and pride. People glory in their families, considering them to be the best in the world, and in themselves, considering themselves to be the best of the family members! Love, on the other hand, is a heavenly lifestyle, therefore it does not boast nor is it proud.

The ancient people of God were tempted to boast after the Exodus, so the Lord warned them, saying: "The LORD did not set His love on you and choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments" (Deuteronomy 7:7-9).

God chose His people because they were smaller than the other nations, in order to safeguard their humility. Therefore Moses forbade them to boast and commanded them to be humble, teaching them to say: "My father was a Syrian, about to perish, and he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, afflicted us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labour and our oppression" (Deuteronomy 26:5-7).

Abraham did wander and he came to Egypt seeking refuge there. When he felt oppressed there, he cried to the Lord and He rescued him. It was neither his position nor his strength nor his human way of thinking that rescued him (Genesis 12:10-20). This restrains believers who value God's grace from boasting.

God repeated His warning to His people against boasting by the words of the prophet Isaiah: "Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug" (Isaiah 51:1). By "the rock" He means Abraham, the friend of God, and by "the hole of the pit" He means Sarah. For Abraham was 99 years old and Sarah 89 when she became pregnant with Isaac. She had no hope of childbearing at her age, but against all human hope God fulfilled His promise to His friend Abraham (Romans 4:18). Thus Isaiah said that God cut Himself a people from "the rock" and "the hole of the pit". So there is no place for pride here, only for humility before God who works such miracles that Abraham "was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God" (Romans 4:20).

Christ also warned Peter from being over-confident when He told him that he would deny Him three times (Luke 22:24).

Christ must have had a feeling that His disciples would be tempted to boast that He had chosen them to be His disciples, for He told them: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (John 15:16). This means that the merit is for the grace which grafted the branch to the vine and nourished it with its generous sap so that it bore fruit. We notice that the branch which does not bear fruit raises its head, whereas it bows down when the fruit makes it heavy. Those that boast are those that bear little fruit!

	Love understands the merit of Him who gave it, therefore it does not wax proud.

Man's nature is sinful, he is dust from the earth. Man is also spirit, a breath from God. Dust cannot grow proud, because when it breathes out it returns to dust. So let us repeat with the apostle Paul: "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's" (Romans 14:8). For loving the Lord makes us understand that we live and move and have our being in Him (Acts 17:28), so that we return the credit to Him to whom it belongs and offer glory to Him who alone is worthy of glory.

We ought to appreciate ourselves correctly, as the apostle Paul said: "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Romans 12:3).

Two good examples of people who thought soberly of themselves are Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes and David the psalmist. Jacob said to God: "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, but now I have become two companies. Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him lest he come and attack me" (Genesis 32:10-11). Jacob acknowledges that when he had crossed the Jordan River, he had nothing but his staff. But when he came back, he had two armies with him, and the credit goes back to God. However, the two armies might be lost in a moment and taken or killed by Esau. So Jacob acknowledges his unworthiness and need of God's help.

The prophet of God, David, also prayed: "Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that you have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD; and You have also spoken of Your servant's house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know your servant. For Your word's sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done these great things, to make Your servant know them. Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears" (2 Samuel 7:18-22). David acknowledges that he used to be a mere shepherd whom God had made king. For love does not boast, as it acknowledges the merit of Him who gave the gift.

The first beatitude says: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). They are the ones who understand by the spirit that what they have is not earned by any merit on their part but it is a free gift from the Lord.

	Love understands the limitations of its gifts.

How can we boast and become proud when we know that our love of God and our service to Him are nothing compared to His love for us and the blessings He grants us? How can we boast and become proud when we know that we are negligent about God's and people's rights? Therefore Christ says: "So, likewise, you, when you have done all those things which you were commanded, say, `We are unprofitable servants; we have done what was our duty to do"' (Luke 17:10).

No one can do all he ought to do according to his beliefs. Even if he could, he must confess that he is nothing but an unworthy servant who has done nothing worth mentioning, and that would be a correct appreciation, not false humility. For all of our financial contributions come from what God gives us, and all the works we undertake we can only do by the health and energy God gives us. Everything we have is from His grace towards us, a gratuitous gift from God, to whom be all glory. Every time our love for God increases, we increase in grace, and every time we advance in grace we discover that our standard is lower than the divine standard demanded from us, which is "the whole measure of the fulness of Christ". So let us strive and not give up. There is never any place for pride. There is only place for running towards the goal, struggling against sin, resisting to the point of shedding our own blood (Hebrews 12:4). The Gospel tells us about a centurion who did much good, but who saw that he only did his duty. So he did not boast but humbled himself, because his heart was overflowing with love for God and His people. The Jewish elders told Jesus "that the one for whom He should do this was worthy, `for he loves our nation and has built us a synagogue"' (Luke 7:4-5). He himself, however, said to Christ: "I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof" (Luke 7:6). Love understands the limitations of what it gives, so it does not boast nor does it become proud.

Let us bow down before God in a spirit of humility, aware of our sins and shortcomings, and let us then partake of his unlimited love, which is like an ocean overflowing with grace. And let us strive so that His name is exalted and the earth filled with His glory.

	PRAYER

Lord, teach me the love that does not boast and does not become proud, for what do I have which does not come from your generous hand? I thank you for graciously choosing me, which is something you have done solely because it pleased you to do so. Teach me by the example of Christ, the most exalted example of love and humility, who said: "For I am gentle and lowly in heart," and who submitted Himself and obeyed unto death, the death on the cross. Grant me humility and gentleness of heart. Remove from my heart all traces of boasting, pride and conceit. Grant that I may walk in the steps of our dear, beloved Saviour. Hear me in His name, I pray. Amen.

(1 Corinthians 13:5)

Rudeness is contrary to the will of God. When He created the world "God saw that it was good... very good" (Genesis 1:4,12,18,21,25). When He had completed creation, including man, "God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good" (verse 31). Good is God's will, whereas rudeness came into creation with sin. When the apostle Paul says "Love does not behave rudely" he means that it is the fundamental attribute which would have remained had sin not come into the world.

In His love, God had prepared everything good for Adam before He created him, and everything was good, the lights, the trees, the birds, the fish and the animals. Last of all, God created man to enjoy all of this. And when God saw that Adam was alone, He gave him his wife Eve to be his helpmate. As soon as he saw her, Adam wrote the first poem in history, a love song. Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Genesis 2:23).

As soon as sin came into the world, however, it was accompanied by antipathy, fear and rudeness, and, lo and behold, Adam, the author of love poems, put the blame on his beloved wife Eve, and even on God Himself, saying to Him: "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate" (Genesis 3:12)! How did love change into antipathy? How did thanksgiving to God change into grumbling?

The most striking illustration of the rudeness of sin is what sin did to Christ. The first among the wise, Solomon, described Christ by the spirit of prophecy, saying, "You are fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured upon Your lips" (Psalm 45:2). The prophet Isaiah, though, describes Him differently altogether, saying, "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him" (Isaiah 53:2-3). How does this most excellent of men come to be described in these gloomy, sorrowful terms? The answer is that He bore all of our sins. Such is the rudeness of sin that it deforms everything. And Christ bore all this rudeness in order to restore all the good to us which we had deformed, to fulfil the words of David: "He will beautify the humble with salvation" (Psalm 149:4). Martin Luther expresses the same reality in his words to Christ: "My Lord Christ, you became what you never were in order to make me what I never was."

There are two ways in which love does not behave rudely:

	Love does not behave rudely in words.

The apostle Paul speaks about how believers should behave in love, saying, "Therefore, be followers of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks" (Ephesians 5:1-4).

Foolish talking and coarse jesting are rude and obscene, and not only should these things not be practised, nor should they be mentioned, "let it not even be named among you." For when a person addresses someone else in an improper manner, he distorts the other's image in front of people, and moreover, he disgraces himself as well! The tongue which is controlled by the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, speaks nothing but blessings to others. Foolish talking and coarse jesting which is improper is usually scornful towards others, because they are different in the way they look or dress or their knowledge or their way of speaking. This is always a behaviour which has nothing to do with love, for someone who mocks and jokes makes himself and his friends laugh at the expense of the dignity of someone else, because he ridicules that which he considers to be a point of weakness in the other person.

The apostle Paul gives this advice to the Colossians: "But now you must also put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him" (Colossians 3:8-10). God has changed us and renewed us to be in accordance with the image of the loving Creator, who has encouraged all people.

There is a fantastic discourse on the tongue in the letter of James, the letter of practical life: "If any one does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body... For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing... Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig-tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring can yield both salt water and fresh" (James 3:2,7-12).

In the natural world we do not find a spring that gives both fresh and salt water at the same time, and neither an olive tree nor a grape vine can produce figs. But one and the same tongue (sadly enough) produces contradictory statements! One and the same mouth blesses God and curses people. The apostle James comments on this saying, "My brethren, these things ought not to be so" (verse 10). For love does not speak rudely but always speaks words of encouragement, and it only reproaches in order to build up and restore, but never in a rude manner. So if we would apply this rule to how we speak at home, what would we find? Usually we speak nicely when we are not at home and pull ourselves together when we receive visitors. But we usually release our tempers when alone with our families as though we had spent all our funds of love outside, having nothing left for our families but grumbling, reproaches and coarse talking! We behave like this although we have endless funds of wisdom, grace and sweet words with God, from which we can take all we and our community need!

I will quote two examples of encouraging words from the Old Testament, one to a virtuous wife and the other to a virtuous husband, both of whom give words of encouragement to their spouse: The angel of the Lord appeared to the Manoah's wife, who was sterile, declaring to her that she would bear a son (who would be the judge Samson), whom God would make the saviour of His people. She told her husband about this. Manoah prayed for the angel to reappear. God answered his prayer and the angel appeared a second time to his wife, who hurried to tell Manoah. The two spouses spoke with the angel about the son they were going to have and his future. After that, the angel left and returned to heaven in the flame of the altar of burnt offerings. Some time passed when the angel did not appear, so Manoah became afraid and said to his wife: "We shall surely die, because we have seen God!" So his wife reassured him, saying, "If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us such things as these at this time" (Judges 13:22-23). How beautiful are the words of this wife! She did not mock her husband for not understanding, but reassured and encouraged him, giving him supporting evidence that God had accepted their offerings and spoken to them. In her love, she neither behaved rudely nor scolded her weak, fearful husband. She behaved according to the apostolic advice: "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers" (Ephesians 4:29).

The other example is of a husband who encourages his wife. Hannah was sterile. This was not due to any defect of Elkanah's, her husband, for Penina, Elkanah's other wife, had children with Elkanah. Hannah was crying and praying, asking God to give her offspring. Years went by without any answer to these prayers, but in the midst of her suffering, her virtuous husband was encouraging her, saying: "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" (1 Samuel 1:8). God then did show His generosity to Hannah and Elkanah granting them offspring, the first of whom was Samuel, who became a judge and a prophet of Israel.

	Love is not rude in practice

When God's Spirit controls our lives, He gives us blessed fruit, the first of which is love (Galatians 5:22). The apostle Paul says: "For the fruit of the Spirit consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all those things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: 'Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light"' (Ephesians 5:9-14). There are evil deeds done by the believer before he came to know Christ. It is improper for him to keep doing them after he has risen from his death of sin and Christ's light has shone on him, because "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). So rudeness no longer has a place in the life of the believer - or so it ought to be.

How often we see ugliness and rudeness swallowing beauty around us. But the final victory is for love, because it does not behave rudely.

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, saw in a dream seven cows coming up out of the river, fine looking and fat. They fed in the meadow. Then seven other cows came up after them from the river, ugly and gaunt, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the river. The ugly gaunt cows ate up the seven fine looking and fat cows (Genesis 41:2-4).

What Pharaoh saw happens with us today. We see ugliness eating up the beautiful. We may have a fine friend, with whom we had a long, gratifying fellowship, but one mistake may destroy this friendship. We forget the fine days and remember the one fault. You spend your days doing good, and one mistake wipes out all the goodness. Ugliness eats up beauty!

Only love that does not behave rudely conquers ugliness and stands by the fine people and things of life. Love is like Moses' rod. When Moses cast down his rod before Pharaoh it became a serpent. The magicians of Egypt did likewise. But Moses' rod swallowed up their rods (Exodus 7:10-12). The rod of truth swallowed up the rods of falseness and rudeness.

The grace of Christ performs a miracle of beauty in us when we accept it. It demolishes the rudeness of sin. One of the meanings of the word "grace" is "the beauty of life." Jesus bestows beauty of life on those who accept His salvation.

When Jesus was on trial He heard Peter's triple denial. These were words of rudeness. What was the reaction of Jesus? Luke says, "The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord... Then Peter went out and wept bitterly" (Luke 22:61-62). Jesus' look to Peter was not a look of rebuke, sarcasm or gloating. It must have been full of love and sympathy. This is why it broke Peter's heart to repent. After Jesus rose from the dead He gave Peter and his colleagues a great catch of fish after a long night of fruitless fishing. Then Jesus asked Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?" In embarrassment Peter answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

The love of Jesus healed Peter's denial. It inspired him to follow Jesus. It motivated him to the life of piety.

	PRAYER

Forgive us, Father, for the rude words that our lips spoke which hurt the feelings of others, and disturbed our consciences. Bless us in our homes and in our relations with our families and neighbours. Help us love all those with whom we deal. Help us speak edifying words to them. Even when they make mistakes help us to treat them the way Jesus treated the denying Peter, so that we walk in the steps of our beloved Saviour who inspires us to follow Him, and encourages us to live the life of piety.

We are weak and you are our strength. Control us with your Spirit so we can obey and live the life of love which does not behave rudely and never fails. Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In Christ's name. Amen.

(1 Corinthians 13:5)

"Love does not seek its own" means that love seeks that which is in the interest of others. This is a virtue which no human being can have enough of without being born of God or without being possessed by the Holy Spirit. For that which is born of flesh is flesh and is concerned with its own, whereas that which is born of the Spirit is concerned with the affairs of God and others.

When we listen to the teachings of the Bible, we are filled with despair, because we are unable to apply them. This happens, too, when we consider Christ's exemplary life, because we cannot follow in His footsteps. This despair is holy, important and blessed, because when we feel incompetent, we can seek refuge with God in His grace, confessing our bankruptcy. Then God will take charge of the matter instead of us, so that we may say with the apostle Paul: "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). When this is the case, Christ lives these virtues out by His life in us, so that we can walk in His footsteps. If we stumble and fall, He raises us up. "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having now been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life", i.e. His life in us (Romans 5:10).

"Love does not seek its own" because it seeks that of others! There is an old Jewish tradition saying that the place where Solomon's temple was built was a place where two brothers met, whose hearts were overflowing with love. The elder of the two was married and had children, whereas the younger one was unmarried. After the wheat harvest, the elder brother said to himself: "Now we have harvested the wheat, and I have one half of the crop and my brother the other half. I will give him a sack of wheat of my portion in order to pay for his wedding expenses and for building himself a new house." At the same time, the younger brother was thinking to himself that he would add a sack of wheat from his portion to that of his brother, because he was thinking about his married brother's responsibilities toward his wife and children. Each of them did as they had thought in the middle of the night. When morning broke, each of them began to count what he had and found that nothing was missing. None of them understood why, so they repeated more than one night what they had done. One night the two brothers met on the way, each of them carrying a sack of wheat to be given to his brother. So they embraced each other and cried, on each other's shoulder. In that place, the meeting-place of love, the temple of Solomon was built.

On the evening of the Last Supper, Christ's disciples refused to wash each other's feet, so Christ got up from the meal, wrapped a towel around His waist and washed and dried their feet, and then He said to them: "Do you know what I have done to you?... If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13:4-14).

God has loved us deeply and accepted us. He asks us to love our neighbour as much as He loves us and as we love ourselves. Likewise, God asks us to accept and forgive ourselves as He forgives us. For if we forgive ourselves in the same way God forgives us, we can accept and forgive others. In this way we apply one of the greatest attributes of love and obey the apostolic command: "Fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:2-8). So Christ is the most sublime model of love which thinks about that of others. May we have Christ's way of thinking, which accepts, blesses and forgives us. For when we adopt Christ's way of thinking as our method, we can love with His love, so that we don't seek praise, happiness or benefit for ourselves, because we seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to us (Matthew 6:33).

	Love seeks the others' good because it is merciful.

The soul which enjoys God's mercy and forgiveness will be merciful and forgiving to others as a result, and will seek the others' good. Every time God's mercy enters into a human soul, mercy moves from this soul into others.

How beautiful the words of the psalmist: "The steps of the good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand. I have been young and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; and his descendants are blessed" (Psalm 37:23-26). Verses 23-25 speak about the love of the Lord and His support of the believer and how He satisfies him and his offspring with good things. The reaction of the believer consists in showing mercy all day and lending, and his offspring will be a blessing because the Lord has already in the past shown mercy and kindness towards him.

The same thing which the psalmist describes in Psalm 37 is contained in the words of the apostle Paul: "Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do" (Colossians 3:12-13).

	Love seeks the others' good because it is generous.

Love is generous. It gives without expecting anything in return. We have many examples of this, among others one which may be difficult to apply today. It happened in the early church and is described in the book of the Acts of the Apostles: "Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need" (Acts 2:44-45). There was no one who was in need, because those who had gave to those who did not have. In chapter 4 of the same book, we read: "Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles' feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need" (Acts 4:33-35). The same chapter presents a person to be emulated, Joses who was known as Barnabas, which means "a person who encourages others". He was a Levite from Cyprus and "having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet" (Acts 4:36-37).

This is an example of generous love, which gives all it has and gives in abundance. However, this having all things in common in the church of Jerusalem did not continue, because it was a consuming, not a producing church. When its capital was used up, it was stricken with poverty. Therefore, the apostle Paul teaches us: "If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). To the elders of the church of Ephesus, he says: "You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me" (Acts 20:34). Paul worked as a tent-maker to support himself and those who were with him.

The mutual love of the members of the first church was great, as they offered up all they had to God and each other. And since most of them expected Christ's second coming within their lifetime, they sold their belongings for the mutual benefit. However, no one can predict the time of Christ's second coming, so let us work and strive honestly, fulfilling the apostolic commandment: "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labour, working with his hands what is good, that he may have some thing to give him who has need" (Ephesians 4:28).

So come, let us love our generous God, that we might be generous like Him, because "He who sows to his flesh, will of the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith" (Galatians 6:8-10). For the love you have received from God is a blessing and you have enjoyed divine generosity which does not seek its own good but that of others. And the one who is satisfied pours out on others of the generosity of heaven. "Do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased" (Hebrews 13:16).

	Love does not seek its own because it seeks thespiritual good of others.

The Lord seeks our spiritual good. He searches for us as the good shepherd searches for the one lost sheep until he finds it. This Good Shepherd never stops searching for you in order to restore your soul and lead you into the paths of righteousness for His name's sake (Psalm 23:3). "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10).

The most eloquent example of love seeking that of others is the attitude of the apostle Paul towards the Jews who harassed and opposed him, who had previously crucified Christ and now wanted to stop the preaching of the Gospel. Even the Jews who accepted the message of Christ wanted to stop the spread of the Gospel to the Gentiles. The apostle Paul expressed his feelings towards them saying: "I tell you the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Romans 9:1-3). He wanted to be banned from salvation if this ban could lead to the conversion of the Jews and their salvation.

Have you sacrificed anything for the sake of Christ, something that led someone else to get to know Christ? Think of what Christ did for your sake and His sacrifice of Himself in order to save you, and hear Him ask you: And you, what have you suffered for my sake?

	Love which does not seek its own receives heavenly recompense.

We all seek heavenly recompense, and our way to it is to serve others and seek their good. The best example of this is our mighty Saviour, who when "being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:8-11). For the one who seeks the others' good and not his own, and who honours others will be honoured by his heavenly Father as the Father honoured the Son, who gave Himself for sinful mankind.

Come, let us walk in the footsteps of Christ, to be the people of the right hand, to whom the King says: "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me" (Matthew 25:34-36). The Lord credits every touch of good and love to your account, however humble and insignificant it may be. He gives it back to you with a great blessing, not only here on earth, but as an eternal inheritance prepared for you since the creation of the world! "And whoever gives one of these little ones a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward" (Matthew 10:42).

The apostle of love, Paul, presented a beautiful piece of advice to the elders of the church of Ephesus, ending with some words the Lord Jesus had spoken, but which were not recorded by any of the four evangelists: "I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me. I have shown in every way, by labouring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus: `It is more blessed to give than to receive"' (Acts 20:33-36). Here the apostle Paul commands us to love with the love which does not seek its own, working according to Christ's word that giving is better than receiving. Christ presented an example of this when He gave Himself for us. Paul also presented an example, for he did not seek his own, either, but served and carried burdens for the needs of others. Therefore, the Lord blessed Paul. His teaching, inspired by God's Holy Spirit remains a guide-line to the believers to this day, and will remain until Christ's second coming, guiding them to know God's will for their lives and the lives of those around them.

	PRAYER