1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
God is patient. He is like the dog in the picture above who could eat that kitten in one bite, however he is patient with the kitten even while having his leg gnawed on. God is the same way. Even when we hurt Him God does not crush us like He justifiably could. Praise God He is patient.
He is kind and not jealous. The word jealous in the Greek means to covet. We are not to covet. Nothing belongs to us. We are to oversee what God has given to us to care for, but it all belongs to God. God never covets, but then He owns everything anyway.
God does not seek His own. He has given us so much to enjoy and use in this world. He even gave of Himself totally, even unto death, in the person of Jesus. He is not a god who only wants from followers adoration and sacrifice. God desires to love and serve those who follow Him and help them to love and serve others.
God is not provoked to rain down fire on us out of frustration and anger. He is only moved to do what is necessary, to bring us back to Him, out of His love for us. He does not take into account wrongs we have done to Him, but rather He looks at how He can move our hearts back into alignment with His heart. He does not rejoice in any trials which may come upon us, no matter how evil we ourselves might be. He only rejoices in seeing us come to the truth.
God bears all things we might accost Him with. He believes in us even when we do not. Hope is faith in what is future and God knows what is in our future. He knows how much we will grow and please Him. He will endure pain and heartache, which we cause by accident or on purpose, just so He can bring us into a righteous and more complete relationship with Him.
God desires only the best for us. We were created so that our lives will be truly fulfilled and have joy when we are in a right relationship with God. He will do anything possible to bring us to Himself. He will even put up with our rebellious hearts for a time. Eventually our time will run out and death will take us. Then it is to late. Now is the time to decide to follow our Loving God. Christians and non-Christians alike must decide to make Him lord of their lives and live a Christ centered life of Love.
Read blog post on 1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 click here.
Photo Credit: The Look of Patience by CaptPiper
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