It’s All About Love pt 3 of 5

Today, I would like to look at 1 Corinthians 13:5. This verse tells us how love behaves itself. Some of the aspects of love tell us what we should do. But many tell us how we should act. 1 Corinthians 13:5 begins by saying that love “does not behave rudely”. We have all heard the saying “mind your manners” We are pretty familiar with the obvious things that are rude; for instance, not saying please, excuse me, and thank you. There are other things that classify as being rude as well. Proverbs 11:22 says “As a ring of gold in a swines snout, So is a lovely woman that lacks discretion” Examples can be found in the loud ghetto acting women we see in public. We have all encountered them if we were not once one ourselves. They have no regard for others around them as they laugh and talk really loud on their phones or use bad language. You can be the prettiest woman in the room, but without discretion, you are like a pig pig wearing a gold ring. You look good on the outside, but you are not pretty on the inside.

Next, 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that love does not seek it’s own. In other words, love is not selfish. In today’s world, selfishness seems to be all around us. It seems that everyone wants to excel in one area or another and will do it by any means necessary. Even if it is at the expense of someone else. When we walk in love, we don’t behave this way. Philippians 2:3 tells us to not do things out of selfish ambition. There is nothing wrong with striving to succeed. The way that success is obtained is what is important. Philippians 2:4 follows by saying “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” We are to look out for one another. In a post I recently wrote titled “Supporting The Ministry”, I talked about how I noticed that during the New Testament times, the early Christians took care of each other. If someone had a need, they would see to it that the need was taken care of. In walking in love, we are to not just care about our own needs. We are to be concerned with the needs of others as well.

The third behavior given to us in 1 Corinthians 13:5 is not being provoked. Being provoked is the same as being short tempered. This means make you upset at the drop of a dime. Did you know that not being provoked goes hand in hand with long-suffering? When we are long-suffering, we don’t allow anger to come in so quickly. Although being angry is a natural emotion, what we do with it is what often gets us into trouble. Ephesians 4:26-27 says “ Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your wrath nor give place to the devil” One way we can sin is with our mouths. We allow our emotions to control what we say and we end up saying hurtful things. Colossians 3:8 tells us to avoid this type of behavior. Not letting the sun go down on our wrath means that we are to forgive someone when they offend us and not hold a grudge. 1 Corinthians 13:5 says that love thinks no evil or keeps an account of evil. Not letting the go down on our wrath means we have 1 day to get over it. After that, we shouldn’t bring it up anymore. When we forgive someone, we let it go. Not giving place to the devil means we take it up with God, not our neighbors, family, co-workers etc. When we give our hurts to God and truly let Him deal with the issues, there is no place for the devil. We have given that place to God.