Devotional

‘Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

‘Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ‘ 1

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself,

Please, hold your own heart up to this scripture. Does your mind travel back to what your spouse did years ago when you argue today? Do you refuse to help someone, not because God said no, but because last time they mishandled your kindness?

If we are going to take this scripture at its word, and we should because it is true, then we must be honest with ourselves. If you have a short temper, if you are easily irritated, easily angered, easily offended, then the problem is not just your temper or your emotions. The problem is your love level.

Love will sacrifice it’s own desire so that you get what you want at all cost. Not seeking your own way means your interest is not even an option. The scripture does not say love does not seek its own way first. It says love does not seek its own. Period. Love is not calculating personal advantage. Love is not asking, “What is in this for me?”

You see these words, brag, proud, arrogant; the three of them are triplets. They have the same DNA because they are so intertwined that you cannot have one without the other.

Jealousy comes from fear. Fear that I will not get my turn. Fear that what they have somehow reduces what is available to me. Love casts out fear, and love believes that what God has for someone else does not cancel what He has for me. Love is not Jealous. How can it be jealous? Love wants you to thrive, and it doesn’t care what it has to give up to see you succeed.

If we’re going to talk about love, then we have to go back to the source. And the source of love is God. You cannot have the expressions of love, the outward manifestations and conduct of love, if you do not have the source ingredient, which is God.