Advent Conspiracy Devotional: Wednesday, December 22nd

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   ⁸ Love never fails

Reflection: We have spend the past couple of days talking and thinking about who love is - Jesus Christ, and our call to respond to Jesus presence in our lives with love.  And we have thought as well about how love is a verb. 

            God is love, but what is love?  This famous passage from 1Corinthians is full of definitive descriptive statements about what love is. 

            Patience and kindness are the bedrock of a loving attitude towards others, and a good place for us to start.  If we can be patient and kind, we are on our way. 

            There are many other descriptive terms for love as well: not self-seeking, always protects, trusts, hopes and perseveres.  And all of these things have another quality in common: just like Jesus, they put others before themselves.  In all of these things love thinks of the other before itself.  This is who Jesus is.  This is who we are called to be.

Question: what quality of love is easiest for you to live into?  Which is hardest?