Love is not... "rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged." (1 Corinthians 13:5, NLT)

Love is so beautiful, especially when we take the time to look at all the different facets of it. Paul states that love is not rude. We have all experienced someone being rude to us. Rudeness is dishonorable behavior towards another. It is not living up to kingdom standards in our interactions with others. Love is honorable towards others.

Love is not selfish. Therefore it does not demand its own way. Love considers others better than itself. Love is 'others' focused and has others in mind or more important than itself.

Love is not irritable. This means that love is not easily provoked, irritated, or stirred to anger. What does it take to get you provoked, irritated, or angry? To be quickly stirred to anger or irritated is unbecoming of a Christian because it separates and divides people.

Love keeps no record of wrongs. Keeping records of wrongs is so easy because, most often, they are associated with pain, and pain has a way of impacting us. Love keeps no record of wrongs because love is quick to forgive. If you are holding a list of wrongs done to you, chances are you living with unforgiveness. Unforgiveness is a silent killer of people. It eats away at the soul like cancer. Take time to check your list. Forgive those who have hurt you. Remember Jesus' word, "Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.” 

It gives and gives and expects nothing in return to stay motivated to love more.

"... love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant" (1 Corinthians 13:4, ESV)

Agape love is the highest kind of love known to man. God loves us with agape love. It gives and gives and expects nothing in return to stay motivated to love more. Agape does not envy.

Envy comes from the Greek word 'Zelos,' from which we get the word zealot. One who is envious is zealous about getting his own personal plans and desires, even at the expense of others. You could quickly call this person self-centered and ambitious. He does not consider the needs of others. It is the opposite of being kind. Agape is kind; it does not envy. Real love does not think of itself first; it thinks of others.

Agape does not boast. The word boast comes from a word that means 'lots of self-talk.' It describes a person who continually promotes and exaggerates about himself. It also describes a person who never seems to stop talking because they think what they have to say is so important. It is annoying! Agape love is so secure it does not need to speak about itself. Agape wants to focus on others and edify them because they are valuable.

Agape love is never arrogant. To be arrogant is to be puffed up with thoughts and words about oneself. It thinks too highly of itself because of pride. Agape never does this because it thinks too highly of others. So, what do you see as you look into the mirror of God's word today?  

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant” (1 Corinthians 13:4, ESV)

First, let's look at love. The word for love is agape. It is the highest kind of love known. It is how God loves. It gives and gives and expects nothing in return to stay motivated to love more. Paul then starts to tell us what agape love looks like.

Agape love is patient and kind. Let us pause and take inventory of how well we are doing in the areas of patience and kindness when it comes to those closest to us. The word patient comes from a Greek word meaning 'long duration to anger.' This person does not know when to stop, quit or give up. Agape becomes more determined as the struggle intensifies. Agape love prevents you from giving up on people. 

Agape is kind. 'Kind' comes from a Greek word meaning to be compliant to the needs of others. Agape love helps you to change to become what others need you to be. It considers others before itself. Jesus was kind to lepers, bleeding women, demoniacs, etc. He became what they needed Him to be. He touched those that society had marginalized and brought them back in. Jesus was kind to the woman caught in adultery and was about to be stoned. He rebuked her accusers, showed her kindness, and told her to sin no more. God's love is patient and kind! That's who He is.

"For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." (John 1:16, ESV)

It has been said that you cannot get too much of a good thing. That has to be particularly true about God's grace. All the fullness of God was in Him, Jesus. (Colossians 1:19) And from His fullness we, as believers, have received. We have received not just grace but grace upon grace!

How do we define grace? One, grace is God's ability in me to do the things I cannot do in and of myself. Grace can also be defined as the empowering presence of God. With those definitions in mind, let's consider what God has done.

In Exodus 33:19, God says to Moses, "I will cause my goodness to pass before your eyes and...I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." He is telling Moses you will see my grace when you see my goodness. In Ephesians 2:8-9, God tells us that we are saved by grace through faith! To the woman at the well, Jesus says, "If you only knew the Gift God has for you." Jesus tells his disciples that he must return to the Father so the gift of the Holy Spirit could come to us.

Are you seeing it? We have received grace upon grace! We have been given His empowering presence, Son, Holy Spirit, and more! All are gifts! All are grace upon grace to us. Yes! God has given us what we do not deserve and what we cannot earn. We have received grace upon grace.

"And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:23–24, ESV)

Have you ever been in this place? "Lord, I believe. I think I believe. Yes, I believe, sort of. Lord! Help my unbelief!" The man in Mark 9, whose son has a mute spirit, is somewhere in the faith realm between possible and impossible. Of course, we all want to be in a place where we know all things are possible. But to get there, we have to understand a few things. We have to understand authority and that Jesus is Lord over all things. We also must understand power and that Jesus possesses the power to change things. (Luke 5:17) We must know that God is good and He cares. He has compassion for this man and his son.

Jesus, rather than rebuking the man's lack of faith, seems to jest with him, "If you can!" And then makes this powerful statement: "All things are possible for one who believes."  It is another way of saying, "Trust me. Believe that I am good and that I want your son well." 

The challenge we all face, when a crisis is knocking on our door, is getting our 'knowing' from our heads to our hearts. It is one thing to know God can, but it is another to know that God will. Knowing God will comes from knowing God. And knowing God intimately happens over time. But be encouraged, Jesus did help the Father's unbelief and his son.