Portrait of Love
Portrait of Love
By Lahry Sibley
1 Cor 13: 4Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is
envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious,
does not display itself haughtily.
I would like to turn your head just a small tweak, if I may, that you may
possibly view this passage in a way not seen before. When we read these
lines in this text, let us remember Who inspired them. Love Himself. God is
love. So when you and I read these lines, we need to keep that in mind.
Everything that is said here about love, can be said about God. For God is
love. God is longsuffering, patient, and kind. Are you? Am I? God neither
envies nor boils over with jealousy. God is a jealous God, but never
motivated by envy. God needs no boasting, all His handiwork takes care of
that nicely. God is glorious, but never in vain. He never displays Himself in a
haughty manner. He IS. He is more than enough.
5It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude
(unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in
us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-
seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of
the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
God is not conceited. He is quite contented with Himself. He is not rude, nor
does He have any need to be. His Word is final. He does not act
unbecomingly. His Justice needs no defense. His actions never need
anyone’s counsel. Even though God has the ability and the power to back it
up, He does not insist on having His own way. He has nothing to seek for
Himself, as all things are already His. God hates murmuring, and finds those
who murmur are quite insulting failure to recognize His character of love.
God does not react emotionally to evil that is cast His way, for no weapon
formed against Him shall prosper. Because He does not immediately react to
wrong suffered, folks get the idea that there is no consequence to their
actions against God, His kingdom, and His law. They think He pays no
attention when in reality nothing escapes Him and the time of judgment will
come with consequences irreversible. Selah.
10But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete
and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and
superseded).
Oh happy day when our Master sets foot on Mt. of Olives once again. He will
display the fullness of all that is lacking in the life and ways of man. There
will be nothing that is undecided, nothing left unmanaged, no one
overlooked.
Faith, hope, and love, are who we are as Christians. The greatest of these
character traits is love, because God is love. When we love, we are most like
Him, and it pleases Him. Love never fails because God never fails. Love is
the very character and nature of God, and when we love, we are most like
Him. Selah - Lahry