Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride);
- it is not rude (unmannerly),
- does not act unbecomingly.
- does not insist on its own rights or its own way,
- for it is not self-seeking;
- it is not touchy or fretful or resentful;
- it takes no account of the evil done to it,
- [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
- It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
- Love bears up under anything and everything that comes,
- is ever ready to believe the best of every person,
- its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and
- it endures everything [without weakening].
Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 –Amplified
All of the above picture Jesus.
“He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.
After that he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.” John 13:5
Christ’ love.
“And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. “John 2:17
Yes, Christ’s love again.
Bessel Van Der Kolk from “The Body Keeps Score” instructs us, “Human beings are astoundingly attuned to subtle emotional shifts in the people (and animals), around them. …Slight changes in the tension of the brow, wrinkles around the eyes, curvature of the lips, angle of the neck, quickly signal to us how comfortable, suspicious, relaxed or frightened someone is….When the message we receive from another person is ‘You’re safe with me,’ we relax.”
Would we have felt safe with Jesus?
In his book, “The ethics of sex,” Helmut Thielicke places a diminishing of parental and family love as the cause for excessive pre-marital sexual affairs among teens. This love must include nurturing, care, and also parameters — All to protect the home, the wife and children.
Love says, NO! Sometimes. In Proverbs we read about an adulterer, 7:14-20 Living Bible
“She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look she said, “I’ve just made my peace offerings and fulfilled my vows.
You’re the one I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are! My bed is spread with beautiful blankets, with colored sheets of Egyptian linen.
I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning. Let’s enjoy each other’s caresses,
for my husband is not home. He’s away on a long trip. He has taken a wallet full of money with him and won’t return until later this month. “
Does this feel inviting — safe? Yes, but something lacks —
- The rule of right,
- aura of truth,
- regard for honesty,
- purity of integrity.
Loving parents say “Beware!”
Lastly, our favorite Bible character, Job, finally meets God at the end of his ordeal. — In a whirlwind God comes. Where was love?
God is Love. Yes, the whole of God’s diverse manifestation is Love.
His holiness, His justice, His omnipotence, His sovereignty, omnipresence, omniscience, compassion, truth, goodness, mercy and onward are all aspects of God’s person which is LOVE.
Only God can make you and me truly safe. We need an ever-present love, an all powerful protector from hurts, an exposer of deceit, a merciful giver, and an identifier with our lowliness. We need love that has our best interest, knows all of what we need in spite of us, gives tough love, never quits on us, never fails.
We stumble, but if we continue,
and follow on to know the Lord, we see Love perfected in us.
“There is great love,(ours), and there is the greatest love.” This love… and it will never be exhausted, His cross, this is God’s love.” Dr. Stevens love ya
