"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,..."
1 Corinthians 13:4 NASB1995
Patient - pops up a lot in the Bible where love is mentioned. (2 Corinthians 6:6; Galatians 5:22; Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:12-13, etc.) Out of all the attributes that could be associated and mentioned here with love, it is "patient" that is first. This idea of long-suffering is more challenging to me personally as I age. It seems the longer my years become the shorter my fuse is. I'm sure we would love to be able to love without patience, and yet this verse and all these other passages slap us in the face with reality! Love is patient.
Kind - kindness is translated several times in the New Testament This is a unique word that it's only found here. The other virtues in this verse seem to tie back to this one. Be kind. Be kind in your home. Be kind to your spouse. Be kind to your children. Be kind to your parents. Be kind. Be kind to your coworkers. Be kind to your fellow commuters. Be kind to workers in businesses. Be kind to strangers and neighbors. Be kind. May you be known for your kindness, and may that fame be rooted in the simplicity of you being a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ. A disciple. A Christian A kind one.
"Is not… does not… is not…* - As much as we learn about what love is, we also learn about what love is by what it is not. Where unrighteous jealousy is, love is not. In bragging (Even the (humble) online social media post kind) there is no love (except for maybe in one's own ego). Where there is (self-centered and self-serving) arrogance there is no love.
Humility - The opposite of arrogance is humility. Love is humble. Both patients and humility are tied to kindness. We are to be kind. Humility and patience breed kindness and we cannot possess the love of God without them.
Love is not just one of these things. Love is all of these things. Love the summation of these virtues in our life. To love as God has loved us is a lifelong pursuit of understanding and practice. It is the will and the way of the Lord that we pursue it. Then we come to know what His love is and do it. This is what it is to be a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ; for He was not just the example of love, but the epitome of love.
With any social media post, there exists a false sense of anonymity. In addition, anything written, unlike and even more so than what is spoken, it can be very difficult for the reader to grasp the true emotion behind what is being conveyed in the writing. Written sarcasm is almost always taken too literally, and can be detrimental to relationships of any kind. Once the reader receives the message and has internalized it the way they want to understand it, it is even more difficult to then explain what was written and why it was written, and that that particular someone simply missed the point. All too often, this causes the problem to grow out of control even further. I…