Friends in Christ Weekly Message
January 30, 2010

     Love never gives up.
     Love cares more for others than for self.
     Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
     Love doesn't strut,
     Doesn't have a swelled head,
     Doesn't force itself on others,
     Isn't always “me first,”
     Doesn't fly off the handle,
     Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
     Doesn't revel when others grovel,
     Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
     Puts up with anything,
     Trusts God always,
     Always looks for the best,
     Never looks back,
     But keeps going to the end.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (Message*)

Dallas Willard writes, “You can't succeed in being ethical in act or character unless you have abandoned having your way, fulfilling your own desires, as the rule of your life. That is the ethical meaning of love in real life as taught and practiced by Jesus.” (Knowing Christ Today, p. 92)

Paul in this scripture identifies a number of characteristics of this love. In looking how far we have come in embodying the love of Christ, it's a good list to use to measure our progress.

How often do we fall into the practices that are not characteristic of love? To what extent do our lives exemplify the character of love? When I consider these questions, I realize that I am still not truly letting Christ rule my life, but often continue to try to have my own way.

Bill Samuel

* The Message version ©1993-2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.

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