BibleDiscipleship

Making 1 Corinthians 13 Personal

We’re familiar with Paul’s prescription for the indispensable element of love in our walk with Christ:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.   And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.   If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.   (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

Many times we’ve heard or read the follow-up paragraph on how Christ-like love acts:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.   It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.   Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.   (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Do you want to take your understanding and application of this love to the next level in a way that is profoundly convicting? Replace the word love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 with your name.   Here’s what it would look like for me:

  • Jason is patient.
  • Jason is kind.
  • Jason does not envy or boast.
  • Jason is not arrogant or rude.
  • Jason does not insist on his own way.
  • Jason is not irritable.
  • Jason is not resentful.
  • Jason does not rejoice at wrongdoing.
  • Jason rejoices with the truth.
  • Jason bears all things.
  • Jason believes all things.
  • Jason hopes all things.
  • Jason endures all things.

Looking at the passage from that angle, Jason is convicted because Jason has room to grow and progress to make.   But thanks be to God that Jason has a practical plan for progress (the Scriptures) and a perfect prototype to study and conform to (the Christ) for the rest of his life.

How about you?

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