God is love. The Bible declares this clearly:
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:8
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul first tells us that without love, we are nothing, regardless of what we do or know. Then he shows us the many different attributes of love. Here they are:
Love is patient.
Love is kind.
Love is not jealous.
Love does not brag.
Love is not proud.
Love is not rude.
Love is not self seeking.
Love is not provoked.
Love keeps no record of being wronged.
Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness.
Love rejoices with the truth.
Love never gives up.
Love never loses faith.
Love is always hopeful.
Love always perseveres.
Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Jesus exemplified love in the way He lived his life. He was and is the epitome of love incarnate, as Jesus came from God and lived as a man. So, we can replace the word ‘love’ with ‘Jesus’ to get a clearer picture of tangible love from the Father in the God-man, Jesus:
Jesus is patient.
Jesus is kind.
Jesus is not jealous.
Jesus does not brag.
Jesus is not proud.
Jesus is not rude.
Jesus is not self seeking.
Jesus is not provoked.
Jesus keeps no record of being wronged.
Jesus doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness.
Jesus rejoices with the truth.
Jesus never gives up.
Jesus never loses faith.
Jesus is always hopeful.
Jesus always perseveres.
Jesus never fails.
Now it gets more difficult. As a Christian, we are called to be like Christ. That’s what the word Christian means, to be little Christs. If God is love… and Jesus is God and fulfills love perfectly, then we are to follow suit and be a display of these aspects of God/Jesus/love. So try this… replace love and Jesus in these sentences with your name to see how you fare:
Are you patient?
Are you kind?
Are you jealous?
Do you brag?
Are you proud?
Are you rude?
Are you self seeking?
Are you provoked?
Do you keep records of being wronged?
Do you rejoice in unrighteousness?
Do you rejoice with the truth?
Do you ever give up?
Do you ever lose faith?
Are you always hopeful?
Do you always persevere?
Do you ever fail?