Qualities of Love

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
-First Corinthians 13:1-7 (NLT)

Yesterday, we saw how important love is to the life of a Christian. Today, we're going to continue in this study on love from First Corinthians 13. In verses 4-7, we see Paul teaching us some of the characteristics of love. This is a portrait of what true love is. Oftentimes, these verses are read during wedding ceremonies, but they need to be studied and applied at all times. Let's break it down.

Let's first look at what love is. The first part of verse 4 says that "Love is patient and kind." Patient and kind. Dwell on those words. Do you have patience? Verse 7 teaches us that "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In order for love to never give up, to never lose faith, to always be hopeful and to always endure, we must have patience.  When you are trying to love someone, truly love them, sometimes you need patience to keep loving them when they don't show love in return. Do you get where I'm going with this? Verse 6 says, "It does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out." True love loves truth. Verse 5 teaches us, "It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged." Love is not another word for selfishness. Verses 5-7 all point back to the start of verse 4, and all teach us what true love is. It is "patient and kind." All these qualities of love that Paul writes about in verses 5-7 can only be achieved because true love is patient and kind.

But, what isn't love? The rest of verse 4 says, "Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude." Each of these four words (jealous, boastful, proud, rude) doesn't bring about the true love of Scripture. If we are jealous, boastful, proud or rude, we can't be patient and kind. Why? Because each of these words: jealous, boastful, proud, rude, puts the spotlight on us instead of on others. We can't truly be patient or kind and be rude or jealous at the same time. They cannot coexist. You're either patient, or your proud. You can't be both. Which are you? Is true love shown in your life? Think About It.