According to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." With these words, it's all absolutes. No maybes, no partially, no buts, or ifs. Part of this definition that sticks out to me is "it is not self-seeking" and "it keeps no record of wrongs". That's as true of a statement as they come. Now that love has been defined, let me tell you the real reason why I'm writing this.
I happened to be in a downtrodden state and what I find to be an excellent remedy for that is to simply read the bible. And recently I was in the book of 1st John and came across a passage I knew well but hadn't touched in a while. As I was reading, it hit me in the feels...hard. The hurt I was feeling melted like a dropped ice cream cone on pavement in July. The passage comes from 1 John 4:9-11:
"This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
The above is a truth I try to live by. God loved me first. Therefore I ought to also love others. But it's not easy. I'm human, which means I'm not perfect. I have flaws. I do or say things that to me may be of no issue, but to someone else may be a thorn. I know for a fact I'd rather have someone love on me than chew my head off or secretly have an issue that festers into an ugly sore. I have friends who have drastically different ideals and beliefs that I do. Society would scream to cut them off. But it's not as if they are racist, toxic, or bad people. It's simply that their views are the complete opposite of mine. But they are people I've known for years and have cared about for this long that simply having beliefs or values that I don't agree with that cutting them off would be the last thing I would ever do.
When there is a lack of love, people tend to spew falsities without even truly knowing someone. That's why you'll never hear me call a liberal a snowflake. Or a conservative a bigot. What good does that do? If anything, it severely damages any chance you had to try to get people to understand your side because why would they want to take the time to listen to someone who resorts to name-calling? And the real icing on the cake are those who call themselves Christians, yet they harass and condemn people just because they are gay. They use hurtful words and spew hate. Or the ones who harass women outside of abortion clinics. These people have no idea what these women are going through. And in no way, shape or form is any of that going to aid their cause. It makes things worse and it's not anything Jesus would've done.
I want to share with you an example. I enjoying playing video games from time to time. Especially online ones where other live people are involved. The only downside to that is that people are incredibly toxic behind their screens. You have a bad game or make mistakes that cost your team the win, be prepared to be harassed. One time I had a bad game. We lost and after it ended I received an ugly message from a player on my team who had a great game, but it was ruined by our loss. I could've sent him a nasty message back. I could've also ignored it. But instead of letting his hurtful words destroy me, I replied apologizing for my mistakes, telling him I just had a bad game. I congratulated him on how well he did and wished him better luck in his next game. I then received an unexpected response. He said "You are the second person to reply to me like that. I'm sorry for what I've said and you've made me think about how I treat people here. Enjoy the rest of your night." Just like that, someone who had nothing but hate to spew melted. Simply because I responded with kindness. I know it's incredibly hard to do when someone attacks you, but trust me on this, showing kindness and love is the best thing you can do.
I mentioned fear before and how 2020 is filled with it. In that same chapter of 1 John 4, there's a verse for fear and it also resonates with the title of this post. 1 John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment."
There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. No human love is perfect. But God's is. It's why I cling to this belief. It's why I fear little. This is what's been going through me lately. It's true that because of my human flaws, I will not always resort to kindness and love. But I sure can strive for it.
