1Corinthians 13

Scripture
1Corinthians 13
Verses 4-7 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. 6 It is never glad 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.


Observation
This is the Love chapter, often read at weddings - including my own. But as I read this chapter I was suddenly struck by the context and it took on a completely different meaning for me. It is not just about how I should love my husband, but how I should live my life.

Chapter 12 is about spiritual gifts and how they work together for the church to be effective. Chapter 13 then speaks about how spiritual gifts cannot be used properly if we do not understand how to love.


Application
I recently heard a portion of a sermon on the radio about how to apply this chapter. You are to replace the word love with your own name and decide if you are doing that. For example verse 4 would then be: Carrie is patient and kind. Carrie is not boastful or proud or rude. And then I need to ask myself if this is always true. Of course it is not, but I can certainly learn from it and try harder to be these things more often and more consistently.


Prayer
Lord your Word has so much to offer us, it is precious and perfect. Thank you for revealing your word to me today in a deeper way so that I now have a much clearer understanding of how you want me to love. Please guide all of us through these verses, making them more clear and help us to apply them to our lives. In Jesus name, Amen!