“Love is patient, love is kind… It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
—1 Corinthians 13:4, 7–8 NIV
Paul begins by telling us what love is: patient and kind. Then he tells us what love does not do: envy or boast. He explains what love is not: proud, rude, self-seeking, or easily angered.
Then he tells us about the one thing love refuses to keep: a record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. Then comes the grand finale:
Love never fails.
We often hear these words at weddings, but God never intended for us merely to admire them. First Corinthians 13 is a mirror through which we can examine how we love God, ourselves, and others.
I remember when the Lord asked me to write my husband a note apologizing for the ways I had failed to love him as I should.
I wrote:
I’m sorry for the times I haven’t been patient with you.
I’m sorry for the times I haven’t been kind to you.
I’m sorry for the times I have envied what others had instead of being thankful for what we have together.
As I worked my way through the passage, God revealed places in my heart that needed His touch. I realized I had sometimes loved my husband with a selfish love—one centered on my desires, expectations, and feelings. I asked him to forgive me for making love about what I believed I should receive instead of how God wanted me to give.
The Lord was not telling me I had never loved my husband. He was showing me that human love naturally becomes self-centered when it is not surrendered to Him. We need God to teach us how to love beyond ourselves.
In our relationship with God, love trusts His heart even when we do not understand His hand. It perseveres in prayer, holds on to hope, and rejoices in His truth.
In our relationship with ourselves, love means seeing ourselves through God’s grace. We can acknowledge our failures without keeping a record of every wrong we have committed. We can accept God’s correction without living under condemnation.
In our relationships with others, love is tested when people disappoint, inconvenience, or hurt us. Love remains patient and kind. It refuses to keep a running list of offenses to use later. This does not mean ignoring wrongdoing or tolerating abuse. Because love rejoices with the truth, it can confront what is wrong, establish healthy boundaries, and pursue healing without becoming bitter.
We cannot love this way through human determination alone. We need the love of Christ flowing into us before it can flow through us.
Perhaps we should place our own names into this passage and ask:
Am I patient and kind?
Have I made love about my own desires and feelings?
Am I keeping a record of wrongs?
Am I protecting, trusting, hoping, and persevering?
When we fall short, we can return to the One whose love never does. Our feelings may change. Relationships may experience difficult seasons. Our own ability to love may fail.
But God’s love never fails.
Prayer
Father, use Your Word as a mirror to reveal the places in my heart that do not reflect You. Forgive me for making love about my desires, expectations, and feelings. Teach me to love You, myself, and others with the patient, kind, truthful, and enduring love You have shown me. When my love falls short, fill me again with Yours. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Heart Check:
If I used 1 Corinthians 13 as a mirror today, what would God reveal about the way I love?
