Thursday, 3 September 2020 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
“Love……… does not take into account a wrong suffered.” -1 Corinthians 13:5 NASB
In this grand chapter of Love, the Spirit of God gives bold affirmations about the quality of Love that is expected to be demonstrated through and by a believer of Jesus Christ! Although many think it is very difficult to demonstrate the kind of love, the Bible gives reason that it is possible!! Romans 5:5 says “… the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
The Greek equivalent word for love is “Agape.” One explanation for Agape is: it is benevolent love. Its benevolence, however, is not shown by doing what the person loved desires, but what the one who loves deems as needed by the one loved!! In John 3:16 it is written that “God loved the world…” He gave not what man wanted, but what man needed as God perceived His need!
However for man to first show this love he needs to experience this kind of love from God and then from within him, compelled to operate in such love. When we place our lives under the authority of Jesus Christ, we start experiencing the love of God and then God will place within man the source of power that would enable him to operate in that same love (Romans 5:5) The NKJV Study Bible states: “this kind of love goes against natural human inclination.“
There are various expressions of this love described in today’s reading. Of them, we will look into detail the one below:
Love does not keep an account of a wrong suffered -1Cor.13:5
This one aspect of love is very crucial and if practised, can help save numerous relationships and enable believers to live with power. In our lives there will always be people who mistreat us, disappoint us, belittle us and cheat us!! -especially in the Husband-Wife relationship this matters much. We live in a time when the most sacred of relationships designed by God, is taken for granted and even believers end up in separating themselves!
The human mind has the amazing capacity to remember things. In most relationships, a simple argument can trigger old memories and fuel the argument by enumerating the past failures of the other person. In fact forgiveness has lost its value! Somebody explained forgiveness thus: even when the person who has inflicted pain in me has gone free, I still do not hold anything against him. This is what Christ has done. He knows all that we have done, yet forgave us without holding any grudge against us.
The key verse says, Love does not keep an account of a wrong suffered. Keeping an account resembles the act of book keeping, whereby each day’s transactions are entered. Many people are like this. We need to, at the end of each day (or even every now and then), take that account book and tear that sheet and start a clean new page!!
I believe by the power of the Holy Spirit that is poured into our hearts it is possible! In the epistle of Philemon, Paul writes to him to say that whatever Onesimus had to pay, account it against Paul! That was exactly what Jesus did on the cross – He took all our wrongdoings on Himself and bore the just punishment for that!!
Can we also practise to tear of that “page of accounts” against our spouse/ best friend/colleagues/ Pastor/ Parent/Children…the list goes on… and say that it’s a new day!!! God expects you to do that. He showed that kind of love towards you and put His spirit in your heart so that you can also show it! Yes you can, you have the power to agape others!!! Will you surrender your life to Christ Jesus?
THINK ON IT: Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you. -Psalm 130:3,4 [NLT]