READ: 1 Corinthians 13.4-7 NLT
'Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.'
I am sure that you have often heard these famous words. They give us the most beautiful description of love and, understandably, they are often read at weddings. Love sounds incredibly attractive doesn’t it? We would all long to be as loving as this. But there’s a problem. A very big problem, and we won’t make any progress until we have recognised it. The problem is that no amount of human effort will enable us to be as loving as this. However hard we try we are bound to fail. The reason for that is that the only way to show perfect love is by enabling God to work through us. Hard as we might try, we will never succeed in being truly loving without God’s daily strength.
The way to become more loving is interestingly not by thinking more about love. What matters is that we focus more on God. As we get to know God better, and allow our lives to be shaped by him, his love will naturally flow through our lives. There will be no stopping it! Living in God’s way of love will shape every part of life from the moment we wake up. It will affect the way in which we greet people in the morning. It will guide our prayers for the people we see on the way to work. It will colour our relationship with our families, colleagues and friends. We will, without thinking about it, be seeking the very best for them all. When we meet people in need we will naturally reach out to them and seek to help. We haven’t got time to do much thinking about love because we are so busy loving.




QUESTIONS: Which of Paul’s descriptions of love do you find most challenging?
PRAYER: Lord God, thank you that you have always shown me perfect love. Help me to get to know you better so that your love will constantly flow from my life. Amen

Released on 3 May 2021