LOVE

1 Corinthian 13:4-7 (NLT)

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Here the apostle gives the church the definition of true love. It is love intended for man to show to others. It was the love Christ lived out here on earth. It is the love we are to know.

In relationships there are two roles with love, the giver and the receiver. Ideally these roles reverse throughout a relationship such that one partner gives while the other partner receives and then the roles swap. Ideally, both partners give and receive whole-heartedly for the right reasons without any strings attached. In a relationship there should always be a healthy balance between the giver and the receiver. One person should never be giving to the point of overwhelming the other person, while the receiver should never take and take without consideration for the other.

Take a moment to fill in the sentences below with the name of someone you feel love towards and quietly answer to yourself if you believe the sentence to be true. Then take the same sentences using your name and consider the person who you just examined and decide if the sentence is true about you in regards to that person.

_____ is patient and kind.

_____ is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.

_____ does not demand their own way.

_____ is not typically an irritable, and keeps no record of being wronged.

_____ does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

_____ never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

As you review these ask if they are true. If you find some not matching up there may be some problems which need to be examined. True love will always find a way to make things right.