by Jordy van Gaalen

Pursuing Love

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this SoundCloud link.

“Let all that you do be done in love”
1 Corinthians 16:14, ESV

What does it mean to do everything in love? What a difficult task when broken down, but what an important reminder! A reminder, as humans and as sinners, to revisit daily. First, let’s look at the Biblical definition of love.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

A definition worth memorizing and reciting when it gets most difficult to follow. When we are tired or impatient or have been wronged. When we are cut off while driving or an unhappy customer takes it out on us. When others aren’t treating us the way we want to be treated. When our boss gets us in a mood we can’t seem to get over. Reciting this verse can put us into God’s intention for our lives – to love Him and to love others. 

I had heard it once to read this verse and replace “love” with “God,” because God is love. 

It would read as the following:

God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. God does not dishonor others, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

As we walk this earth, the greatest command is to love. From the time we wake each morning to the time we lay down our head for rest, let us pursue love. Let us live a life marked by love. The kind of love laid out in 1 Corinthians and the kind of love that God perfectly fulfills and exemplifies.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado