Many Ways to Love

Readings:
Job 23
I Corinthians 13:4-7

I don't have a focus verse for this passage. I have had these four verses on my office wall for the past five or ten years. Every day I focus on one aspect of them and concentrate on that. For example, one day I especially try to remember to be patient, and the next day I focus on being kind. (Of course I want to behave in all these ways every day, but I place a special emphasis on one element of the passage each day.)

On superficial reading of these verses, we might think that if we are good people, of course we are like this. But when we really think about it, we fall short of this in many ways. For instance, on my own, I can be too quick to take offence, or I can lack endurance. How can we overcome this? Because we are not able to do it on our own, God helps us. He does this when we ask him to send his Spirit to dwell in us and enable us to show the kind of love that he wants.

I find that when I remember to ask God to help me with the love talked about here, I can do much better than if I just try on my own. When we ask him, God always wants to help us.