submitted by Brooks Hartzell
[1Co 13:4-8 NKJV]
Love SUFFERS LONG [it’s not just good feelings and fun times, but often includes difficult periods which sometimes can be long as people work out their issues]
[and] is KIND [there is never an excuse for being unkind];
love does not envy;
love does not parade itself,
is not puffed up;
does not behave rudely,
does not seek its own [way, rights, vindication, etc.]
IS NOT PROVOKED [not thin-skinned, overly sensitive or easily triggered],
thinks no evil [doesn’t think bad thoughts about others, judging motives, and resists negative imaginations or speculations];
does not rejoice in iniquity [falsehoods, lies, remembering offences and harboring grudges],
but rejoices in the truth;
BEARS ALL THINGS [puts up with A LOT—without an attitude],
believes all things [believes the best about others going out of the way to put others’ behavior in the best possible light],
hopes all things,
endures all things.
LOVE NEVER FAILS [it never gives up on a loved one, or cuts them off except where extreme discipline is required, even in the toughest and most frustrating situations].
[Eph 4:31-32 NKJV]
Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.
And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even [in the same way!] as God in Christ forgave you.
[John 13:35 NKJV]
By this all will know that you are My disciples, [not by having “correct” doctrine or practice or by being so smart, but] if you have love for one another.
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