Text from 1 corinthians 13: 4-8
It is written in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “In sum, three things abide: faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.” Love is a very special feeling that knows no boundaries. It is manifest in both the physical and spiritual worlds. Out of love, God gave us his Son. Christ died on the cross for us out of love. Out of love, God brought his people out of oppression in Egypt. Out of love, he saved Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah. There are so many examples in the Bible of God’s love for his children. But what is love according to God? What makes this love so special? How can we put it into practice to be pleasing to the Lord?
What does the Bible mean by love?
Love can have several definitions, depending on the context (Eros, Storge, Philia, Agapé). But we’ll focus on Agapé love. It’s a feeling that’s not turned towards passion or the pursuit of personal pleasure. It’s a feeling that seeks and desires the good of all, sometimes even to the detriment of one’s own good if necessary. This type of love has well-defined characteristics. If we share them on a daily basis, they will make us unique, special and a perfect reflection of God’s will.
Love in the Bible is patient
Patience is the ability to wait a long time, control oneself and remain calm in certain situations. When we love, we must be able to have this virtue towards everyone. God loves us despite our faults, and his love leads him to be patient with us. He expects us to do the same, both with Him and with those around us. Patience bears good fruit and leads to God’s promises, as it is written in
Love in the Bible is full of goodness
To seek to do good to our neighbor, to be kind to him, is what characterizes kindness. Every day, the Lord shows kindness to us. He keeps us healthy and gives us healing when we’re sick, he never stops providing for our basic needs, he takes care of us, … As much as he does it for us, he expects us to do it for our neighbor. Our brother is sick, let’s visit him and pray for him; he is in need, let’s provide for him. By doing so, we show God’s love and we are happy, as God says
Love in the bible is not envy
He who is envious is jealous. He doesn’t rejoice in his neighbor’s happiness because he doesn’t have the same. When we love, we’re happy in all circumstances, and we rejoice in our neighbor’s happiness. Let’s be happy when our neighbor gets married, has a child, gets a new job, passes an exam, … All these things are our share in God and in Christ and we have a right to them too. That’s why, when we love, we mustn’t envy our brother, for we are entitled to the same grace as he. God, in His goodness and justice, has graced us with the same blessings as our neighbor. Let’s not let envy get the better of our love, or else hello misery!
Love in the bible is not proud or boastful
Those who are proud and boastful tend to glorify themselves and put themselves above others. When we live in love, we must be humble. We need to draw close to our neighbor, to accomplish great and beautiful things with him or her, not for our own glory but for God’s. We don’t take any credit for ourselves. We take no credit for ourselves, but share it with our neighbor. This is how we obtain all glory, as God says
Love in the bible does nothing dishonestly
The dishonest person is false. He seeks above all personal advantage and is prepared to deceive his fellow man to achieve his ends. Love makes us realize that all things are and come from God, and through Christ we are heirs. So we don’t need to deceive our neighbor to obtain what is already ours. In every situation, let us be honest with our neighbor, for this brings peace, as the saying goes
Love in the bible does not seek its own interests
When we love, we seek above all the good and the interest of our neighbor. Giving and helping without expecting anything in return, not lending money and expecting a surplus, … This is what characterizes a love without interest, as demonstrated by
Love in the Bible is not irritated or suspicious of evil.
To love is to know how to take responsibility and not get angry at certain attitudes of our neighbor. It means not meditating and returning evil for the evil done to us by our neighbor. Let’s never stop looking for the good that’s hidden in our fellow human beings, and even in our enemies.
Love in the bible rejoices in justice and truth
To love is to be just and true to our neighbor. We shouldn’t be indifferent to seeing our neighbor suffer injustice. Knowing that he is far from the truth should not please us. Justice begins with the person who loves God and his neighbor, because he knows that this leads to good and delivers him (, , ). Truth is shared by those who love, want to save a life and want to live justly (,).
Love in the bible forgives, believes, hopes and endures
The one who loves has at heart to erase the faults of his neighbor. He does not doubt his neighbor, but trusts Him completely. He knows how to endure, because he knows that the best is yet to come. That’s what God’s love for his children is like. We’re not perfect, and every day we make mistakes. But as a good Father, He forgives us, bears with us, doesn’t despair and believes in us. Being in his image, we too are capable of doing the same with our neighbor if we so desire. Let’s forgive one another as
Love is eternal because it is God. He who has love has God with him, and he who has God does not die. Love has conquered death through Jesus Christ and made us eternal with him. But beyond that, love leads us to perform acts that forever mark the life of our neighbor. Whether in deed, word or thought, this is why he who loves never dies.
[…] 4:8). And to find out what the characteristics of love are, I invite you to read our article on Biblical characteristics of love. One of these characteristics is that love does not frame evil. This is one of the characteristics […]