Speaking of Love
We are approaching Valentine’s Day. Red, pink, and white shower the store shelves and the boys have been working hard on their homemade cards to take into school and place in the shoebox-turned-valentine-mailbox during their party. (cards must include two complete sentences complimenting their classmates….jeez, first grade is hard!) The season of love. But what does it really mean? When we are told to speak truth in love, what does that look like? Does it mean you tell someone the truth using a flowery poem and scented paper? Does it mean you stand outside their bedroom window with the truth blasting from the boom box held over your head? Is the truth blazing on the Jumbotron at the next ball game? Interestingly, those are the images that love brings to mind…at least to my mind.
But what about the mind of God? What images of love does His mind conjure up?
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Cor. 13:1-8
The evidence of maturity in Christ is that you can speak the truth with extreme patience and kindness and that you are full of forgiveness and selflessness. God’s image of love is a sweet reminder that truth is best heard while being imitators of Christ; patient, kind, protective, selfless, hopeful, persevering, and never failing.
The coupling of truth and love has always been interesting to me. If we display all truth with no love, we become bullies. If we are only loving but not truthful we become untrustworthy people-pleasers. The temptation to polarize on these traits can be great. The balance between them is a work of the Holy Spirit it us. Thanks Jen.