Love is patient and kind.
Paul defines love by what it does, not what it feels.
The episode in a glance.
- 01Patient and kind are the first two words for a reason.
- 02Love is defined by verbs, not feelings.
- 03'Keeps no record of wrongs' is bookkeeping language.
- 04Read it with your own name in place of love.
Read along.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 — 'Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.'
Patient and kind come first because they're the daily-grind virtues. Most people you love don't need grand gestures. They need you to be slow to snap and warm to be around.
Notice Paul defines love with verbs. Love does, love doesn't. Feelings come and go. The verbs are what survive a bad week, a long marriage, a hard friendship.
'Keeps no record of wrongs' is bookkeeping language. Love doesn't keep a ledger. It doesn't bring up something from three years ago to win a fight today.
Try this. Read the verse and put your name where 'love' is. 'I am patient. I am kind.' If it stings, that's not condemnation. That's the place to start praying.