FIRST CORINTHIANS 13 PART TWO

LOVE DOES NOT REJOICE IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

To rejoice in unrighteousness is to justify it and make wrong appear to be right as Israel turned God’s righteousness upside down in Isaiah’s day.

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)

The Pulpit Commentary notes that the rejoicing at sin, the taking pleasure in them that commit sin, the exultation over the fall of others into sin, are among the worst forms of malignity. (Romans 1:32)(2 Thessalonians 2:12). The Greeks had a word “epichairo,” to rejoice over, exult over, mostly of malignant joy; “kakia,” evil, to describe “rejoicing at the evil, whether sin or misfortune, of others. (Proverbs 24:17). It is the detestable feeling indicated “that there is something not altogether disagreeable to us in the misfortunes of our best friends.

Ray Pritchard writes that love does not delight in evil. It takes no pleasure in wrongdoing, is not glad about injustice, and is not happy when evil triumphs. And it takes not joy in hearing evil openly discussed.

Love is never glad to hear bad news about another person. Love never says, “Well, they finally got what they deserved.” Love is never happy to hear that a brother or sister fill into sin. Loves does not enjoy passing along bad news. This certainly goes against the grain of modern life. We all know that “bad news sells,” and that good news goes on page 75. That’s why they put those supermarket tabloids right by the checkout counter. We all want to heart the latest juicy gossip about our favorite celebrities. True love isn’t like that. It turns away from cheap gossip and unsubstantiated rumors. And even when the rumor turns out to be true, love takes no pleasure in the misfortunes of others.

Albert Barnes has a thoughtful comment writing that love does not rejoice over the vices of other me; does not take delight when they are guilty of crime, or when, in any manner, they fall into sin. It does not find pleasure in hearing others accused of sin and in having it proved that they have committed it. It does not find a malicious pleasure in the report that they have done wrong; or in following up that report, and finding it established. Wicked men often find pleasure in this, and rejoice when others have fallen into sin, and have disgraced and ruined themselves. Men of the world often find a malignant pleasure in the report and in the evidence that a member of the church had brought dishonor on his profession. A man often rejoices when an enemy, a persecutor, or an alandeter, has committed some crime, and when he has shown an improper spirit, uttered a rash expression, or taken some step which shall involve him in ignominy. But love does none of these things. It does not desire that an enemy, a persecutor, or a slandered should do evil, or should disgrace himself. It does not rejoice, but grieves, when a professor of religion, or an enemy, when a personal friend or foe, has done anything wrong. It neither loves the wrong, nor the fact that it has been done. And perhaps there is no greater triumph of the gospel that in its enabling a man to rejoice that even his enemy and persecutor in any respect does well; or to rejoice that he is in any way honored and respected among men. Human nature, without the gospel, manifests a different feeling; and it is only as the heart is subdued by the gospel, and filled with universal benevolence, that it is brought to rejoice when all men do well.

LOVE REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH

To rejoice with the truth means to be glad about behavior in agreement with the truth of God’s Word. So if someone falls into sin, don’t gloat, grieve, because that is God’s attitude toward over sin. And if they repent, love rejoices.

William Barclay writes that Christian love has no wish to veil the truth; it is brave enough to face the truth; it has nothing to conceal and so is glad when the truth prevails.

Ray Pritchard writes that loves takes joy in what is true and good and right and holy and pure. Love cheers whenever the truth wins out. It is glad to know that suspicions were unfounded. Love believes the best and is glad when the verdict is “not guilty.”

Albert Barnes has a lengthy comment in that the word of truth here stands opposed to iniquity, and means virtue, piety, goodness. It does not rejoice in the vices, but in the virtues of others. It is pleased, it rejoices when they do well. It is pleased when those who differ from us conduct themselves in any manner in such a way as to please God, and to advance their own reputation and happiness. They who are under the influence of that love rejoice that good is done, and the truth defended and advanced, whoever may be the instrument; rejoice that others are successful in their plans of doing good, though they do not act with us; rejoice that other men have a reputation well earned for virtue and purity of life, though they may differ from us in opinion, and may be connected with a different denomination. They do not rejoice when other denominations of Christians fall into error; or when their plans are blasted; or when they are calumniated, and oppressed, and reviled. By whomsoever good is done, or wheresoever, it is to them a matter of rejoicing; and by whomsoever evil is done, or wheresoever, it is to them a matter of grief.

The reason of this is, that all sin, error, and vice, will ultimately ruin the happiness of anyone; and as love desires their happiness, it desires that they should walk in the ways of virtue, and is grieved when they do not. What a change would the prevalence of this feeling produce in the conduct and happiness of mankind! How much ill natured joy would it repress at the faults of others! How much would it do to repress the pains which man often take to circulate reports disadvantageous to his adversary; to find out and establish some flaw in his character; to prove that he has said or done something disgraceful and evil! And how much would it do even among Christians, in restraining them from rejoicing at the errors, mistakes, and improprieties of the friends of revivals of religion, and in leading them mourn over their errors in secret, instead of taking a malicious pleasure in promulgating them to the world! This would be a very different world if there were none to rejoice in iniquity; and the church would be a different church if there were none in its bosom but those who rejoiced in the truth, and in the efforts of humble and self-denying piety.

S. J. Kistemaker comments that love takes notice of the evil in this world but never gloats over it. Instead it grieves over the sins that human beings commit against one another. These wrongdoings may appear in numerous forms: intentional and unintentional evils, sins of commission and omission, harsh persecutions and mild neglect, and last, national conflicts and personal controversies. On the other hand, one of the characteristics of love is the constant attempt to discover good and praiseworthy words, thoughts, and deeds in a person. Love searches out the truth and rejoices when that truth is triumphing over wrong. Love and truth are inseparable partners residing in God Himself. God shares these characteristics with His people. He endowed them with love and truth, which though tainted by sin, are renewed in Christ Jesus through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS

The word “bears” comes from the Greek word “stego” from “stege,” a thatch or roof or covering of a building. It derives its first meaning from “stege” and thus means to cover closely, to protect by covering and them, to conceal and then, by covering, to bear up under.

The core meaning of “stego” denotes an activity or state which blocks entry from without or exit from within.

Love is that beautiful virtue that throws a cloak of silence over what is displeasing in another person. From this meaning one derives the picture of covering things with the cloak of love and protects.

Spirit controlled and empowered believers love as a lifestyle by choosing as an act of their will to cover over in silence, to “hide” the faults of others, to bear with or endure. Love doesn’t broadcast another’s problems to everyone. Love doesn’t run down others with jokes, sarcasms or put-downs. Love defends the character of the other person as much as possible within the limits of truth. Love won’t lie about weaknesses, but neither will it deliberately expose and emphasize them. Love protects.

Authentic agape love continually seeks to cover and protect the object that is love and for husbands this applies especially to our wives! Love protects other people. It doesn’t broadcast bad news. It goes the second mile to protect another person’s reputation. Love doesn’t point out every flaw of the ones you love. Love doesn’t criticize in public.

F. F. Bruce comments that love covers unworthy things rather than bringing them to the light and magnifying them. It puts up with everything. It is always eager to believe the best and to “put the most favorable construction on ambiguous actions.

John Wesley writes that whatever evil the lover of mankind sees, hears, or knows of anyone, he mentions it to none; it never goes out of his lips, unless where absolute duty constrains to speak.

W. MacDonald adds that love does not needlessly publicize the failures of others, though it must be firm in giving godly discipline when necessary.

John MacArthur adds that the verb “stego” basically means to cover or to support and therefore to protect. Genuine love does not gossip or listen to gossip. Even when a sin is certain, love tries to correct it with the least possible hurt and harm to the guilty person. Love never protects sin but is anxious to protect the sinner. Fallen human nature has the opposite inclination. There is a perverse pleasure in exposing someone’s faults and failures. As already mentioned, that is what makes gossip appealing. The Corinthians cared little for the feelings or welfare of fellow believers. It was every person for himself. Like the Pharisees, they paid little attention to others, except when those others were failing or sinning. Man’s depravity causes him to rejoice in the depravity of others. It is that depraved pleasure that sells magazines and newspapers that cater to exposes, “true confessions,” and the like. It is the same sort of pleasure that makes children tattle on brothers and sisters. Whether to feel self-righteous by exposing another’s sin or to enjoy that sin vicariously, we all are tempted to take a certain kind of pleasure in the sins of others. Love has no part in that. It does not expose or exploit or condemn. It bears; it does not bare.

Matthew Henry writes that love will cover a multitude of sins (I Peter 4:8). It will draw a veil over them, as far as it can consistently with duty. It is not for blazing nor publishing the faults of a brother till duty manifestly demands it. Necessity only can extort this from the charitable mind. Though such a man be free to tell his brother his faults in private, he is very unwilling to expose them by making them public. Thus we do by our own faults, and thus love would teach us to do by the faults of others; not publish them to their shame and reproach, but cover them from public notice as long as we can, and be faithful to God and to others.

It will pass by and put up with injuries, without indulging in anger or cherishing revenge, will be patient upon provocation, and long patient, holds firm, though it be much shocked, and borne hard upon, sustains all manner of injury and ill usage, and bears up under it, such as curses, slanders, prison, exile, bonds, torments, and death itself, for the sake of the injurious, and of others, and perseveres in this firmness. What a fortitude and firmness fervent love will give the mind! What cannot a lover endure for the beloved and for his sake! How many slights and injuries will he put up with! How many hazards will he run and how many difficulties encounter!

LOVE BELIEVES ALL THINGS

Paul is not saying that love is gullible and believes everything and does not exercise qualities such as wisdom and discernment. What he is saying is that love will believe well of others unless convinced otherwise. It seeks to put the best possible construction on another’s words and actions.

In this context, “believes all things” implies that love sees the best in others or gives the other person the benefit of the doubt.

The love that believes has faith in God, who will work out His divine plans even when all the indicators seem to point in different directions. To “believe all things” means that love believes the best that is possible as long as that can be done. Love gives the benefit of the doubt. It takes people at their highest and best, not at their lowest and worst.

Augustine interprets this as “believing the best” about all people.

John Calvin writes that Paul is not saying that a Christian, strips himself of wisdom and discernment, not that he has forgotten how to distinguish black from white!

C. F. Pfeiffer writes that this aspect of love does not include gullibility. It means, rather, that the believer is not to be suspicious. If, however, sin is evident, the believer must judge it and support its discipline.

Albert Barnes writes that “believes all things” cannot mean that the man who is under the influence of love is a man of universal credulity; that he makes no discrimination in regard to things to be believed; and is as prone to believe a falsehood as the truth; or that he is at no pains to inquire what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong. But is must mean, that in regard to the conduct of others, there is a disposition to put the best construction on it; to believe that they may be actuated by good motives, and that intend no injury; and that there is a willingness to suppose, as far as can be, that what is done is done consistently with friendship, good feeling, and virtue. Love produces this, because it rejoices in the happiness and virtue of others, and will not believe the contrary except on irrefragable evidence.

William Barclay writes that this characteristic has a twofold aspect: (1) In relation to God it means that love take God at His Word, and can take every promise which begins “Whosoever” and say, “That means me.” (2) In relation to our fellow men it means that love always believes the best about other people.

Matthew Henry writes that love believes and hopes well of others. Indeed love does not by no means destroy prudence, and out mere simplicity and silliness, believe every word. It is apt to believe well of all, to entertain a good opinion of them when there is no appearance to the contrary, nay, to believe well when there may be some dark appearance, if the evidence of ill be not clear.

LOVE HOPES ALL THINGS

Love is not pessimistic but shows a godly optimism. Supernatural love does not have negative and critical spirit, but always positive and hopeful. This love hopes for what is good for another, even when others have ceased to hope.

S. J. Kistemaker has an interesting note writing about the Christian triad of faith, hope, and love. Of these three virtues, hope is often the neglected member overshadowed by faith. Nevertheless, when a tripod loses one of its legs, its fall is inevitable. When a Christian nurtures love and faith but neglects hope, he fails and falters in his spiritual life. Paul frequently wrote the verb to hope which appears in his epistles nineteen time out of a total of thirty-one occurrences in the New Testament. Hope is patient, waiting for positive results that eventually may be realized. Hope is the converse of pessimism and the essence of healthy optimism. Hope is never focused on oneself but always on God in Christ Jesus.

Albert Barnes explains “hopes all things” by saying that all will turn out well. This must also refer to the conduct of others; and it means, that however dark maybe appearances; how much soever there may be to produce the fear that others are actuated by improper motives or are bad men, yet that there is a hope that matter may be explained and made clear; that the difficulties may be made to vanish; and that the conduct of others may be made to appear to be fair and pure. Love will hold on to this hope until all possibility of such a result has vanished, and it is compelled to believe that the conduct is not susceptible of a fair explanation. This hope will extend to all things, to words, and actions, and plans; to public and to private intercourse; to what is said and done in our own presence, and to what is said and done in our absence. Love will do this, because it delights in the virtue and happiness of others, and will not credit anything to the contrary unless compelled to do so.

John MacArthur heard the story of a dog who stayed at the airport of a large city to over five years waiting for his master to return. Employees and others fed the dog and took care of him, but he would not leave the spot where he last saw his master. He would not give up hope that someday they would be reunited. It a dog’s love for his master can produce that kind of hope, how much longer should our love make hope last?

LOVE ENDURES ALL THINGS

A. C. Thiselton writes that this refers to an endurance of setbacks and rebuffs which never gives up on people, whatever they do.

Albert Barnes explains that agape love bears us under, sustains, and does not murmur. Bears us under all persecutions at the hand of man; all efforts to injure the person, property, or reputation; and bears all that be laid upon us in the providence and by the direct agency of God.

Ray Pritchard gets to the heart of the matter by asking, “How can we live this way?” How can we truly love without envy, without a quick temper, without seeking our own interests, and without thinking evil of others? The answer is, we can’t! In ourselves we have no power to live this way. That is why it doesn’t work to say, “Let’s give it the old college try and really to out there and love everyone we meet.” We will never talk ourselves into loving like this, and the sooner we admit that fact, the better off we will be. This isn’t some kind of rah-rah competition where we try to prove our love by our enthusiasm.

Sooner or later we have to get down to the bottom of things and admit the truth, “O God, I hate my husband. I hate my wife. I can’t stand my children. My parents are driving me nuts. I hate the people I work with and I don’t like the folks at church. I don’t love my neighbors and I can barely stand to see my own family. O God, help me. I don’t love anyone right now. And even though no one else knows it or sees it, I am an angry person, fill with bad thoughts and completely lacking in any kind of love. If You don’t help me, I will never love anyone because I know I can’t change the way I am. Lord, God, please help me. Change me. Let your love flow through me. If you want to love others, you’re going to have to do it through me because I can’t do it myself.” That’s the kind of prayer God loves to answer.

I also think it helps to replace “love” with “Jesus” in this passage: “Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind, Jesus does not envy, Jesus thinks no evil, Jesus is not quick tempered, Jesus does not rejoice in what is evil.” If we want to love, we need more of Jesus in our lives. Run to the Cross. Stand there and behold the One who died for you. Look to Jesus. Stand next to Him. Let His live fill your heart. If you will come close to Jesus, His love will begin to fill your heart and you will find yourself filled with supernatural love for others. Your life will begin to change as Jesus become preeminent in your heart.

Now as we come to the end, I’d like to give you some homework. Take some time this week to consider the eleven qualities of love in this passage. Think about them one by one. How do you measure up? Where are you strong and where are you weak. Which three qualities stand out as the greatest need in your life right now? Circle those three and begin to pray about them. Write down one practical step you can take in each of those areas this week. And ask God to help you grow strong in love.

There is a second part to this assignment. During December we are slowly climbing toward Bethlehem. On December 25 we will celebrate the supreme expression of God’s love by the birth of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I’d like to challenge you to read 1 Corinthians 13 every day this month. December is a wonderful month to learn about love. If you read these 13 verses 31 times, Paul’s words will be tattooed on your soul. And as these words become part of your life, you will find love becoming a daily reality. May God help us to live in love.

William Barclay summarizes this section writing that one things remains to be said, when we think of the qualities of this love as Paul portrays them we can see them realized in the life of Jesus Himself.

K. L. Chafin sums up this description of agape love writing that when I hold this list of the characteristics of love up before my life like a mirror, I am immediately shaken by the many ways in which I fall short of the perfect love that Christ modeled for me. But I also know that nothing will be more important to my life than letting God perfect the gift of love in me, not in some abstract theological way but by helping me learn to truly love every person as God loves me. These fifteen characteristics of God’s kind of love would make a good outline for prayer, meditation, and study as we attempt to live the Christian life.

LOVE NEVER FAILS

The Greek word for “fails” is “pipto” which means to fall, fall down, under judgment, under condemnation, be prostrated or fall prostrate, to fall into ruin, to perish, lose authority, no longer have force.

LOVE NEVER FALLS INTO RUIN.

Metaphorically as used in this verse it means to fall away, to fail or to be without effect. “Pipto” usually denotes to fall and that which falls ceases its activity and that is what love never does.

Paul’s’ point is that through all the ages to come, love will go on in that we will love the Lord and one another. Unlike the leaf of a tree, love never falls off but will abide forever. Paul strengthens this point on the permanence of love by comparing it to the spiritual gifts which Corinthians so highly prized, all these spiritual gifts eventually coming to an end.

Albert Barnes comments that Paul here proceeds to illustrate the value of love, from its permanency as compared with other valued endowments. It is valuable, and is to be sought, because it will always abide; may be always exercised; is adapted to all circumstances, and to all worlds in which we may be placed, or in which we may dwell. The sense is, that while other endowments of the Holy Spirit must soon cease and be valueless, love would abide, and would always exist.

The following are some real life stories from Our Daily Bread and some writings of Oswald Chambers from this book My Utmost for Highest.”

THE CRY FOR LOVE

A father sat at his desk pouring over his monthly bills when his young son rushed in and announced, “Dad, because this is your birthday and you’re 55 years old, I’m going to give you 55 kisses, one for each year!” When the boy started making good on his word, the father exclaimed, “Oh, Andrew, don’t do it now, “I’m too busy!”

The youngster immediately fell silent as tears welled up in his big blue eyes. Apologetically the father said, “You can finish later.” The boy said nothing but quietly walked away, disappointment written all over his face. That evening the father said, “Come and finish the kisses now, Andrew,” But the boy didn’t respond.

A short time after the incident the boy drowned. His heartbroken father wrote, “If only I could tell him how much I regret my thoughtless words, and could be assured that he knows how much my heart is aching.

Love is a two way street. Any loving act must be warmly accepted or it will be taken as rejection and can leave a scar. If we are too busy to give and receive love, we are too busy. Nothing is more important than responding with love to the cry for love from those who are near and precious to us. Henry G. Bosch.

Lord, teach us the secret of loving,
The love You are asking today;
Then help us to love one another,
For this we most earnestly pray. Anon.

LEARNING HOW TO LOVE

Tracey Morrow, who goes by the name of Ice-T, delights in his role as a controversial rap singer whose lyrics are blasphemous and obscene. Yet, inspired by a truce between two violent gangs in Los Angeles, the Crips and the Bloods, he wrote a surprisingly sentimental song, “Gotta Lotta Love.”

Orphaned when young and brought up by relatives who considered him a burden, Ice-T never experienced loving care. “I first found the word love in a gang,” he told an interviewer. “I learned how to love in a gang, not in a family atmosphere.”

No matter how little or how warped the love we may have known in childhood, it is never too late for any of us to learn to love. In God’s sovereignty we may catch a glimpse of love through some individual or a support group, even a gang. But to learn the full meaning and reality of true love, because Jesus laid down his life for us (John 3:16). The death of Jesus, in all of its sacrificial unselfishness, discloses the heights and depths of love. Unfailing is Christ’s matchless love, so kind, so true; and those who come to know that love show love in all they do. Dennis J. DeHaan.

WE LEARN THE TRUE MEANING OF LOVE WHEN WE LOOK AT HOW MUCH CHRIST LOVES US.

THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT

A third grade science teacher asked one of her students to describe salt. “Well, um, it’s,” he started, then stopped. He tried again. “Salt is, you know, it’s.” Finally he said, Salt is what makes French fries taste bad when you don’t sprinkle it on.” Many foods are like that, incomplete without a key ingredient. Imagine pizza without cheese, strudel without apples, a banana split without bananas.

The Christian life also has an essential element: love. Paul emphasized its value as he wrote his letter to the Corinthians. Right in the middle of a section about spiritual gifts, he paused to say that even if we have gifts of service, speech, and self-sacrifice but don’t have love, we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). We’ve missed the “more excellent way (12:31). A follower of Jesus should love his family, his friends, his fellow believers, those who don’t know Christ, and even his enemies. A true Christian is known by his love.

Doctrinal purity is important. Faith is a magnificent quality, as are actions of obedient service to the lord. But without love, we are about as bland as French fries without salt.

Ask God to help you grow in love until it flows from your heart to others. That is the essential ingredient.

Lord, grant me a loving heart,
A will to give and share,
A whispered prayer upon my lips,
To show I really care. Brandt

Oswald Chambers writes in “My Utmost For His Highest:

Spontaneous Love

Love suffers long and is kind . . . —1 Corinthians 13:4
Love is not premeditated— it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul’s description of love. We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, "Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe." No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity. We don’t deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it. And when we look back, we are amazed at how unconcerned we have been over our emotions, which is the very evidence that real spontaneous love was there. The nature of everything involved in the life of God in us is only discerned when we have been through it and it is in our past.
The fountains from which love flows are in God, not in us. It is absurd to think that the love of God is naturally in our hearts, as a result of our own nature. His love is there only because it "has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we really don’t love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, which flows naturally from His nature within us. And when we look back, we will not be able to determine why we did certain things, but we can know that we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God exhibits itself in this spontaneous way because the fountains of His love are in the Holy Spirit.

'Love One Another'

Love is an indefinite thing to most of us; we don’t know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the loftiest preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that this sovereign preference be for Himself . Initially, when "the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit", it is easy to put Jesus first. But then we must practice the things mentioned in 2 Peter 1 to see them worked out in our lives.

The first thing God does is forcibly remove any insincerity, pride, and vanity from my life. And the Holy Spirit reveals to me that God loved me not because I was lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. Now He commands me to show the same love to others by saying, ". . . love one another as I have loved you". He is saying, "I will bring a number of people around you whom you cannot respect, but you must exhibit My love to them, just as I have exhibited it to you." This kind of love is not a patronizing love for the unlovable— it is His love, and it will not be evidenced in us overnight. Some of us may have tried to force it, but we were soon tired and frustrated.

"The Lord . . . is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish . . ." . I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline

"Will You Lay Down Your Life?"

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends . . .. I have called you friends . . . —John 15:13, 15

Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him. Peter said to the Lord, "I will lay down my life for Your sake," and he meant it. He had a magnificent sense of the heroic. For us to be incapable of making this same statement Peter made would be a bad thing— our sense of duty is only fully realized through our sense of heroism.

Has the Lord ever asked you, "Will you lay down your life for My sake?". It is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling of God. We are not made for the bright-shining moments of life, but we have to walk in the light of them in our everyday ways. There was only one bright-shining moment in the life of Jesus, and that was on the Mount of Transfiguration. It was there that He emptied Himself of His glory for the second time, and then came down into the demon-possessed valley. For thirty-three years Jesus laid down His life to do the will of His Father. "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren”. Yet it is contrary to our human nature to do so.

If I am a friend of Jesus, I must deliberately and carefully lay down my life for Him. It is a difficult thing to do, and thank God that it is. Salvation is easy for us, because it cost God so much. But the exhibiting of salvation in my life is difficult. God saves a person, fills him with the Holy Spirit, and then says, in effect, "Now you work it out in your life, and be faithful to Me, even though the nature of everything around you is to cause you to be unfaithful." And Jesus says to us, “ . . . I have called you friends . . ..” Remain faithful to your Friend, and remember that His honor is at stake in your bodily life.

As we have come to the end of the study of the first fruit listed in Galatians chapter 5, love, I have a little study for you to do and some thought provoking questions:

Fruit-Producing Principle/What We Should Do

Matthew 3:8-10
Matthew 7:15-20
Matthew 13:23
John 15:1-8
John 15:16
Romans 7:4
Galatians 5:22,23
Ephesians 5:8-11
Philippians 1:9-11
Colossians 1:9-10
Hebrews 12:11-13
James 3:17-18


How important is “love” to our value as a human being?

How does “love” think about others? What attitudes does it NOT have?

How does “love” regard the needs and feelings of others?

How does “love” react to irritating minor daily incidents?

How does “love” react to lies, scams, schemes and deceiving and tricking others?

How does “love” handle the tough times?

In what important way is “love” different from things such as admiration, lust, passion and liking?

1 John 3:16-18. This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. (17) If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need but shuts off his compassion from him--how can God's love reside in him? (18) Little children, we must not love in word or speech, but in deed and truth.

How is the love of God to be reflected in the love Christians have for each other? What is wrong with ignoring the obvious needs of others?

John 4:7-12. Dear friends, let us loves one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. (8) The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (9) God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live
through Him. (10) Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (11) Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. (12) No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.

Who is the source of love?

How was love revealed to us?

What should we do as a result?

How does love change or improve us?

The next fruit in our study is JOY.

DAN WILSON
Ephesians 4 Teacher
ephesians4teacher@hotmail.com

FIRST CORINTHIANS 13

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. (NASB)

I Corinthians 13:4-8

Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited, arrogant and inflated with pride; it is not rude, unmannerly, and does not act unbecomingly. Love, God’s love in us, does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it, it pays no attention to a suffered wrong. It does not rejoice at injustice and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything without weakening. (THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE)

Love is the first quality listed in Galatians chapter 5. The best place to start our study on love is to go to 1 Corinthians 13.

We will start off with some insights from others and then I will have some comments at the end.

Paul begins with two positive aspects of love, love is patient, love is kind. The first is passive, not retaliating. The second is active, bestowing benefits.

This twofold opening statement stands as a daily challenge to every Christian! But the “descriptive definition” does not stop here but is followed with a series of primarily negative aspects of love; love never brags, is never arrogant and so on.

This description of “agape” should drive every believer to the foot of the Cross and to a complete surrender to our lord Jesus Christ, Who is the perfect fulfillment of “agape” and Who alone by His Spirit’s filling and control can enable us to work out this aspect of our salvation in fear and trembling to the glory of the Father.

Remember the context of the preceding three verses of this “crown jewel of Holy Scripture for there we learn that love is indispensable and is more important than eloquent communication, spiritual gifts, or personal sacrifice. We may have all the trappings of true religion but if we don’t have love, we don’t have anything at all.

The Corinthians were impatient with each other, suing each other, tolerating sin in the church, and creating problems because they did not have love. Paul emphasizes that whatever gifts and or qualities a believer may possess, they are nothing without love.

A. T. Robertson says that 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 pictures the character or conduct of love in a marvelous rhapsody.

Chrysostom adds that here Paul makes an outline of love’s matchless beauty, adorning its image with all aspects of virtue, as if with many colors brought together with precision.

C. F. Pfeiffer has an interesting comment writing that one might almost say that love is personified here, since the description is practically a description of the life and character of Jesus Christ. However, the picture is directly related to the Corinthians. The observance of the truths of this chapter would have solved their problems.

C. Hodge introduces this famous passage noting that almost all the instructions of the New Testament are suggested by some occasion and are adapted to it. This chapter is not a methodical dissertation on Christian love, but shows that grace is contrasted with the extraordinary gifts that the Corinthians valued inordinately. Therefore, the traits of love that are mentioned are those that contrasted with the Corinthians use of their gifts. They were impatient, discontented; envious, puffed up, selfish, indecorous, unmindful of the feelings and interests of others, suspicious, resentful, censorious. The apostle personifies love and places her before them and lists her graces not in logical order but as they occurred to him in contrast to the deformities of character that the Corinthians displayed.

John MacArthur explains that “agape love” is the greatest virtue of the Christian life. Yet that type of love was rare in pagan Greek literature. That’s because the traits of “agape” love portrays, unselfishness, self-giving, willful devotion, concern for the welfare of others, were mostly disdained in ancient Greek culture as signs of weakness. However, the New Testament declares “agape” to be the character trait around which all others revolve. The apostle John writes, “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (1 John 4:16)

LOVE IS PATIENT

The word “patient” used here is the Greek word “makrothumeo.”

“Makrothumeo” describes manifesting a state of emotional calm or quietness in the face of provocation, misfortune or unfavorable circumstances. Love never says, “I’ve had enough.” It suffers indefinitely. It is longsuffering and continues in spite of conduct likely to quench it. This continuance often, but not always, shows itself in restraining anger.

“Makrothumeo” describes especially patience towards people who act unjustly toward us. Another verb meaning to be patient is “hupomeno” which describes patience under circumstances, although there can be some overlap for circumstances often involve people. In other words the emphasis of “makrothumeo” is not so much a call to patience with circumstances as to patience with people. The action indicated by both verbs is essential to development of our Christian character, for patience with people is just as important as patience with circumstances. Patience is the righteous standard God expects all believers to conform to no matter what person he places, or allows, into your life or whatever trying circumstance you might face.

W. E. Vine has this note on “makrothumeo” writing that longsuffering is that quality of self-restraint in the face of provocation which does not hastily retaliate nor promptly punish; it is the opposite of anger and is associated with mercy.

L. O. Richards adds that the word group “makrothumeo” and “makrothumia” focuses our attention on restraint: that capacity of self-control despite circumstances that might arouse the passions or cause agitation. In personal relationships, patience is forbearance. This is not so much a trait as a way of life. We keep on loving or forgiving despite provocation, as illustrated in Jesus’ pointed stories in Matthew 18.

P. W. Barnett notes that “makrothumeo” is a metaphorical word, literally “long burning,” as of a decent log burning for many hours in an open fire, as contrasted with light pine kindling that fizzes and sputters, sending showers of sparks in all directions.

Chrysotom, and early church father, said that “makrothumeo” is a word which is used of the man who is wronged and who has it easily in his power to avenge himself but will never do it.

J. Vernon McGee writes that the idea is “long-burning,” it burns a long time. We should not have a short fuse with our friends and Christian brothers. We should not make snap judgments.

Illustration of love is patient:

Paul Tan illustrates this trait writing that during the late 1500’s, Dr. Thomas Cooper edited a dictionary with the addition of 33.000 words and many other improvements. He had already been collecting materials for eight years when his wife, a rather difficult woman, went into his study one day while he was gone and burned all of his notes under the pretense of fearing that he would kill himself with study. Eight years of work, a pile of ashes! Dr. Cooper came home, saw the destruction, and asked who had done it. His wife told him boldly that she had done it. The patient man heaved a deep sigh and said, “Oh Dinah, Dinah, thou hast given a world of trouble!” Then he quietly sat down to another eight years of hard labor, to replace the notes which she had destroyed. Next time you thing you’ve arrived at being patient, Dr. Cooper’s example will give you something to imitate!

LOVE IS KIND

The idea is that the kind person is disposed to be useful or helpful, even seeking out the needs of the other person to selflessly meet those needs without expectation of being repaid in kind! This quality of love inclines one to be of good service to others.

The Greek word for “kind” used here is “chresteuomai,” which basically means to provide something beneficial for someone as an act of kindness. It is an attitude of being willing to help or assist rendering gracious, well-disposed service to others. It is active goodwill. It not only feels generous, but is generous. It also describes one’s “gentle in behavior.”

“Chresteuomai” is not merely passive but it is actively engaged in doing good to others. It’s the picture of a person who spontaneously seeks the good for others and shows it with friendly acts. It is considerate and helpful to others, is gently and mild and always ready to show compassion.

Matthew Henry describes this kindness as benign, bountiful; it is courteous and obliging. The law of kindness is in her lips; her heart is large, and her hand open. She is ready to show favors and to do good. She seeks to be useful; not only seizes on opportunities of doing good, but searched for them. This is her general character. She is patient under injuries, and apt and inclined to do all the good offices in her power. And under these two generals all the particulars of the character may be reduced.

Ray Pritchard has the following thoughts on a selfless love that is always kind writing that “chresteuomai” means something like “sweet usefulness.” Love is quick to help others and eager to reach out to those in need. Perhaps you have seen this famous quote:

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it, or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

Mark Twain called kindness “a language that the deaf ear can hear and the blind can read.”

In one of his news reports, Paul Harvey told about a man named Carl Coleman who was driving to work when a woman motorist, passing too close, snagged his fender and hers. Both cars stopped. The young woman surveying the damage was in tears. It was her fault, she admitted. But it was a new car, less than two days from the showroom. How was she ever going to face her husband? Mr. Coleman was sympathetic but explained they must not each other’s license number and automobile registration. The woman reached into the glove compartment of her to retrieve the documents in an envelope. And on the first paper to tumble out, in a heavy masculine scrawl, were these words: “In case of accident, remember, Honey, it’s you I love, not the car.”

John MacArthur notes that the first test of Christian kindness, and the test of every aspect of love, is the home. The Christian husband who acts like a Christian is kind to his wife and children. Christian brothers and sisters are kind to each other and to their parents. They have more than a kind feeling toward each other; they do kind, helpful things for each other, to the point of loving self-sacrifice, when necessary. For the Corinthians, kindness meant giving up their selfish jealous, spiteful, and proud attitudes and adopting the spirit of loving-kindness.

Now Paul begins a series of 8 negative definitions that do not spring from love, for love and jealousy, etc, are mutually exclusive. Where one is, the other cannot be.

LOVE IS NOT JEALOUS

The Greek word used for “jealous” is “zeloo” which means to be fervent, to “boil” with envy, to be jealous. It can used commendably to refer to a striving for something or showing zeal.

Whether “zeloo” is constructive zeal or destructive envy depends on the context. In 1 Corinthians 13:4 “zeloo” clearly is used in a bad sense of a hostile emotion based on resentment which is “heated or boiling” with envy, hatred or anger.

“Zeloo” in the bad sense can be manifest in two forms, one is which the person sets their heart on something that belongs to someone else or a second form in which one has intense feelings over another’s achievements or success.

A. C. Thiselton adds that “zeloo” applies the notion of burning or boiling metaphorically to burning or boiling emotions, stance, or will for earnest striving, for passionate zeal, or for burning envy. Whether it is constructive zeal or destructive envy depends on the context. The envy which is carried over from a status seeking, non-Christian Corinthian culture into the Christian church is not of the Holy Spirit, and is deemed to be incompatible with love, which does not begrudge the status and honor of another, but delights in it for the sake of the other.
Augustine wrote that the reason why love does not envy is because it is not puffed up. For where puffing up precedes, envy follows, because pride is the mother of envy.

John MacArthur writes that the second sort of jealousy is more than selfish; it is desiring evil for someone else. It is jealousy on the deepest, most corrupt, and destructive level. That is the jealousy Solomon uncovered in the woman who pretended to be a child’s mother. When her own infant son died, she secretly exchanged him for the baby of a friend who was staying with her. The true mother discovered what had happened and, when their dispute was taken before the king, he ordered the baby to be cut in half, a half to be given to each woman. The true mother pleaded for the baby to be spared, even if it meant losing possession of him. The false mother, however, would rather have had the baby killed than for the true mother to have him. (1 Kings 3:16-27)

William Barclay phrases it this way writing that there are two kinds of envy. The one covets the possessions of other people; and such envy is very difficult to avoid because it is a very human thing. The other is worse, it grudges the very fact that others should have what it has not; it does not so much want things for itself as wish that others had not got them. Meanness of soul can sink no further than that.

How significant is the sin of jealousy? Proverbs explains that “Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy? (Proverbs 27:4)

It is therefore not surprising to observe that the Bible is filled with illustrations that portray the disastrous effect of jealousy on personal relationships, beginning with Cain’s envy of Abel resulting in his murder of his own brother! (Genesis 4:3-8)

Moses records the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers writing:

And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind”

“Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; and we will say, A wild beast devoured him. Then let us see what will become of his dreams.”

“Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; for he is our brother, our own. And his brothers listened to him. (Genesis 37:11, 20. 27)

In the New Testament Luke records other jealousy motivated acts (in Acts) writing that:

“The high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy and they laid hands on the apostles, and put them in a public jail. (Acts 5:17-18)

“But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were blaspheming.” (Acts 13:45)

What you are filled with clearly will control you.

When one is filled with jealousy, their actions are controlled by that green monster. Not surprisingly we see that the divine antidote for one fill with jealousy is to continually be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Spirit borne Christian love does not manifest this attitude and this trait is never to be a part of the Christian’s “wardrobe.” Loves does not desire for itself the possessions of or control over people. A loving person is never jealous but is glad for the success of others, even if their success works against his own.

Ray Pritchard writes that jealousy is the sin of those who think others have too much and they have too little. By contrast, love is generous. It does not begrudge others their gifts. How do you respond to the good fortune of others? If they do better than you, if they prosper when you don’t, if their family seems happy while yours is torn apart, how will you react? If they achieve what you cannot, if they gain what you lack, if they win where you lose, then the truth will come out. Can you lose gracefully? Can you walk away from the contest without bitterness?

If you live long enough, you will probably find someone who does what you do better than you can do it. You will meet people with your talents and your gifts, only much more of them. You will find people who surpass you in every way. What will you do then? This one test of love. And if you live long enough, you are certain to encounter people who are less talented and less gifted than you in every way, yet they seem to catch all the breaks and end up ahead of you in the great game of life. How will you respond when an inferior person passes you by? This is even sterner test of love.

How do your react when other Christians receive blessings or benefits that we lack?

Do you allow the sparks of envy to burn and them to a full flame?

No one is more miserable than someone filled with jealousy or envy. They rob us of happiness and make our good accomplishments seem bad. Furthermore, they exact their own punishment.

On the wall of a chapel in Padua, an old city in northeastern Italy, hangs a painting by the Renaissance artist Giotto. The painter depicted envy with long ears that could hear every bit of news of another’s success. He also gave Envy the tongue of a serpent to poison the reputation of the one being envied. But if you could look at the painting carefully, you would notice that the tongue coils back and stings the eyes of the figure itself. Not only did Giotto picture envy being blind, but also as destroying itself with its own venomous evil.
If we resent the success and accomplishments of others and find ourselves striking out at them with damaging words or insidious innuendoes, we have a problem with jealousy. But God wants to administer the antidote of love. That alone will keep us from becoming jealousy’s victim.

LOVES DOES NOT BRAG

“Perpereuomai” is the Greek word for brag. It means to talk with conceit or to behave as a braggart or windbag, exhibiting self-display and employing rhetorical embellishments in extolling one’s self excessively.

Love does not try to prove itself and say, “Watch how loving I can be” but instead works behind the scenes.

Love does not parade it accomplishments. It does vaunt oneself so as to parade one’s imagined superiority over others.

Love does not vaunt itself even regarding gifts which it really possesses, which is clearly an indirect rebuke of those at Corinth who used their spiritual gifts for display. Love creates a self-effacing stance rather than giving in to the temptation to assume an air of superiority.

William Barclay writes that there is a self-effacing quality in love. True love will always be far more impressed with is own unworthiness that its own merit.

A. C. Thiselton comments that again the verb underlines the issue of status seeking and triumphalism at Corinth. Even believers seemed to have come to act the part of braggarts, which was at odds with cruciform, Christlike love.

S. J. Kistenmaker adds that such a person parades his embellished rhetoric to gain recognition. His behavior is marked by egotism, subservience toward superiors, and
Condescension toward subordinates. A braggart exhibits pride in himself and his accomplishments. But such bragging is devoid of love to God and to one’s fellow man, and is blatant sin. Further, bragging and arrogance go hand in hand.

John MacArthur has an interesting not explaining that bragging is the other side of jealousy. Jealousy is wanting what someone else has. Bragging is trying to make others jealous of what we have. Jealousy puts others down; bragging builds us up. It is ironic that, as much as most us dislike bragging in others, we are so inclined to brag ourselves. C. S. Lewis called bragging the “utmost evil.” It is the epitome of pride, which is the root of all sins. Bragging puts ourselves first. Everyone else, including God must therefore be of less importance to us. It is impossible to build ourselves up without putting others down. When we brag, we can be “up” only if others are down.

LOVE IS NOT ARROGANT

“Phusioo” is the Greek word for arrogant, which literally means to puff up like a pair of bellows, and is used figuratively to describe one who becomes “inflated”, proud, haughty or puffed up with pride.

It means to cause one to have an exaggerated self-conception.

William Barclay illustrates the complete opposite of arrogant writing that Napoleon always advocated the sanctity of the home and the obligation of public worship, for others. Of himself he said, “I am not a man life other men. The laws of morality to not apply to me.”

The really great man never thinks of his own importance. Carey, who began life as a cobbler, was one of the greatest missionaries and certainly one of the greatest linguist the world has ever seen. He translated at least parts of the Bible into no fewer that thirty-four Indian languages. When he came to India, he was regarded with dislike and contempt. At a dinner party a snob with the idea of humiliating him, said in a tone that everyone could hear. “I suppose, Mr. Carey, you once worked as a shoe maker.” “No, your lordship,” answered Carey, “not a shoe make, only a cobbler.” He did not even claim to make shoes, only to mend them. No one likes the “important” person. Man dressed in a little brief authority can be a sorry sight.

A. C. Thiselton comments that Paul hammers home the incompatibility of love as respect and concern for the welfare of the other and obsessions about the status and attention accorded to the self. How much behavior among believers and even ministers is actually “attention seeking” designed to impress others with one’s own supposed importance? Some “spiritual songs” may appear to encourage, rather than discourage, this preoccupation with the self rather than with others and with God.

Matthew Henry adds that those who exhibit “agape” will do nothing out of a spirit of contention or vainglory. True love will give us an esteem of our brethren, and raise our value for them; and this will limit our esteem of ourselves, and prevent the tumors of self-conceit and arrogance. These ill qualities can never grow out of tender affections for the brethren, nor a diffusive benevolence.

LOVE DOES NOT ACT UNBECOMINGLY

“Act unbecomingly” comes from the Greek word “aschemoneo,” which means to behave in an ugly, indecent, unseemingly or unbecoming manner.

It means to be ill mannered or rude. This verb speaks of an act in defiance of social and moral standards, with resulting disgrace, embarrassment, and shame. It describes one who acts improperly or with rudeness. It means to behave unmannerly, disgracefully or dishonorably.

G. G. Findlay alluding to this verb writes that: Love imparts a delicacy of feeling beyond the rules of politeness.

A. C. Thiselton does not hold back commenting that love does not elbow its way into conversations, worship services, or public institutions in a disruptive, discourteous, attention-seeking way. The background here may allude to the intrusion of tongues or prophecies at inappropriate moments. But today it may also include any kind of monopolizing of a congregation’s time and attention in the service of the self; in the tone, style, and vocabulary adopted in notices or sermons, or worst of all, the minister over familiar chat show host or “prophet’ of ill mannered rebuke.

Steven Cole relates a tragic illustration. I read of a man who was generally lacking in manners. He never opened the car door for his wife. “She doesn’t have two broken are,” he would say. After many years of marriage, his wife died. At the funeral, as the pallbearers brought her casket out to the hearse, the husband was standing by the door. The funeral director, who knew the husband by name, called out to him and said, “Open the door for her, will you?” He reached for the car door and the, for one second, froze. He realized that he had never opened the door for her in life; now, in her death, it would be the first, last, and only time. A lifetime of regret came crashing down around him. Love is not rude.

LOVE DOES NOT SEEK ITS OWN

Seek its own means that the loveless person desires to have his or her own way, or the highway! Such selfish behavior is the polar opposite of sacrificial love. And the church at Corinth was rife with this sin for they were selfish in the extreme not sharing their food at love feasts, protecting their “rights” and even suing fellow believers in non-Christian setting and using their spiritual gifts not to benefit others but their own advantage.

They did not use their gifts to edify or build up the church but to try to build up themselves up.

Alan Redpath strikes a painful chord to most of us who have been married for any length of time writing that the secret of every discord in Christian homes, communities and churches is that we seek our own way and our own glory.

A. C.Thiselton adds that agape spells judgment on the life that centers round the ego and its interests. For when God’s agape I shed abroad in a man’s heart through the Holy Spirit his life thereby gains a new center. The emphasis is transferred from his own ego to Christ.

Elisabeth Elliot was once speaking on the subject of selfless love to an audience that included some young children who were sitting right in front of her. As she spoke, she wondered how she could make this plain to them, so that they could apply it. Later, she got a letter from one of those children, a six-year-old boy, who wrote, “ I am learning to lay down my life for my little sister. She has to take a nap in the afternoon. I don’t have to take a nap. But she can’t go to sleep unless I come and lay down beside her. So I lay down with my little sister.” That boy is learning to love! If husbands and wives, as well as children, would apply this verse as that little boy did, our homes would be free of conflict.

LOVE IS NOT PROVOKED

Figuratively “paroxuno,” the Greek word for provoked, came to mean to spur on, to cause to be upset, to stimulate as used in this verse to arouse of stir some to anger.

Paul is referring to sinful anger that is never provoked in one who is living out selfless, supernatural love. They are willing to endure slights and insults even as did the One Who is the essence of these attitudes of agape love. And it is His life in us as the Spirit of Christ that enables us to manifest this love, which is not possible in our own strength.

A. C. Thiselton notes that the heart of the word conveys the semantic force of to exasperate, to irritate, as metaphorical extensions of to make sharp, to make pointed, to make acid.

Virtually every lexicon and primary source indicates the notion of reaching a level of exasperation. But how does this express itself.

The English word “pique” combines the same range of nuances as the Greek: something between irritation and anger which takes offense because one’s self-regard has been dented, wounded, or punctured by some sharp point.

Love, Paul urges, does not become exasperated into pique, a transient feeling of wounded vanity, partly because patience delays exasperation and partly because of lack of self interest diverts a sense of self importance away from reacting on the ground of wounded pride: “it is not embittered by injuries, whether real or supposed.

J. B. Phillips paraphrases it well writing that love “in not touchy” which conveys the readiness of overreact on one’s own behalf.

Henry Drummond in “The Greatest Thing in the World” wrote the following about this negative trait noting that the peculiarity of ill temper is that it is the vice of the virtuous. It is often the one blot on an otherwise noble character. You know men who are but perfect, and women who would be entirely perfect, but for an easily ruffled, quick tempered, or “touch” disposition.

John MacArthur has some pithy thoughts regarding the individual who is easily provoked writing that the great colonial preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards had a daughter with an uncontrollable temper. When a young man fell in love with her and asked her father for her hand in marriage, Dr. Edwards replied, “You can’t have her.” “But I love her and she loves me,” he protested. “It doesn’t matter” the father insisted. Asked why, he said, “Because she is not worthy of you.” “But she is a Christian isn’t she?” “Yes,” said Edwards, “but the grace of God can live with some people with whom no one else could ever live.”

Surely the number one reason both for mental and physical illness in our society today is the overwhelming preoccupation with our rights and the consequent lovelessness. When everyone is fighting for his own rights, no one can really succeed or be happy. Everyone grabs, not one gives, and everyone loses, even when one gets what he wants. Lovelessness can never win in any meaningful or lasting way. It always costs more that it gains.

We get angry when another person gains a privilege or recognition we want for ourselves, because it is our “right.” But to put our rights before our duty and before loving concern for others comes from self-centeredness and lovelessness. The loving person is more concerned about doing what he should and helping where he can that having what he things are his rights and his due. Love considers nothing it right and everything its obligation.

Telling our wives and husbands that we love them is not convincing if we continually get upset and angry at what they say or do. Telling our children that we love them is not convincing if we often yell at them for doing things that irritate us and interfere with our plans. It does no good to protest, “I lose my temper a lot, but it’s all over in a few minutes.” So is a nuclear bomb. A great deal of damage can be done in very short time. Temper is always destructive, and even small temper “bombs” can leave much hurt and damage, especially when they explode on a regular basis. Lovelessness is the cause of temper, and love is the only cure.

Love that takes a person out of himself and centers his attention on the well being of others is the only cure for self-centeredness