Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
1 Corinthians 13:4-9 (NIV)
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
If you’ve ever been to a wedding you have probably heard this passage from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Christians in the city of Corinth. It sounds nice and idealistic, but in the midst of everyday life, it is one of the hardest passages of the Bible to actually live out! When you are driving on the highway and someone cuts you off do you find it easy to be patient and kind? When you have already been working hard, but your boss demands a little bit more do you find it easy to “bear” and “endure all things”? Practical, ordinary, everyday love is hard and we cannot do it on our own. Thanks be to God we have been loved by Jesus more than we will ever understand and realize! Today, let us thank God for His incredible, free love for us and ask that He would help us to love our spouses, our children, our friends, our coworkers, and everyone we meet.