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1 Corinthians 13:4-5a NLT
‘Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.’
The words of 1 Corinthians 13 often form part of the readings at a wedding. I can understand why, since they speak eloquently of love. Problem is, as life gently unravels over the years, I am forced to consider, what of love do I really know? My life’s work includes impatience, unkindness, envy and boasting, exaggerating my accomplishments, and rudeness on many occasions.
I do have a soft heart and am moved by the plight of humanity, yet with those who are closest, my behaviour often fails the love test. This has been most recently highlighted as Mum has made her home with us. After the natural initial honeymoon period, life has fallen into a pattern from which it’s difficult to know if she is happy. Also, I can’t tell if she feels I care and support her out of sufferance or because she is a welcome family member in our home. In all honesty, sometimes I don’t even know.
Publicly, Mum says wonderful things, yet I can’t help sensing that she is not as comfortable or as happy as her public pronouncements declare. We seem incapable of holding a conversation that would clarify her feelings, and mine.
So, while Paul’s declaration is crystal clear, working it out in practice while developing a handy measure against which to quantify his love values is far from easy. Love, it appears, is far from the external acts that an observer might describe as acts of love. For love is a complex internal set of emotions that fuel thoughts and can build glass walls between us. We live in close proximity yet separated from each other as if by 1,000 miles. This is the overwhelming challenge of love. It can be taught and understood, yet is elusive in practice. The very steps we take to close the space between us can in fact create an ever-widening gulf.
QUESTION: Do you feel loved by those closest to you? Or indeed, do you love them yourself?
PRAYER: Lord, you have been so patient and kind to me; fill me afresh with your love, and may that overflow to others.
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