7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love is always, not sometimes, not occasionally, not sporadically, not when it is convenient, not comfortable, not on my terms. If we say we love like the Scriptures say we are to love, it is always, every moment, unrelentingly, not on my timetable. But that demands a death of our desires. We can’t explode at someone and love them at the same time. We can’t love them and hold a grudge because we were hurt by them. You see love places us at odds with ourselves. Love demands that we change. Love isn’t conditional, waiting for the other to love first. Love just loves. Love never gives up even when it seems to be taking longer than we expect. Read that verse again. “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Does that look like your life? Me neither! Way too often “I” get in the way. I injure instead of protecting. I doubt when I should trust. I give up when there certainly is hope. I stop before the finish line when it is only a few steps away. We are all in the same boat. Our love stinks. But the love of God looks like this verse. We can see it in the life of Jesus. No matter what, He loved. He loved to the point that he could have fudged the truth a tiny bit and saved His own life, but He didn’t. He stuck it out. As you look at your own life, what are some areas of “I” that you need to let “Jesus” rule? Just like in the old commercial we need to “get the spot out,” and that spot is selfish sin. But it is not enough to get the spot out, we must let Jesus in. Substitution is the process, my sin for His life, my selfishness for His giving, and my self-centeredness for His other-centeredness. Let Him in today, right now.
The Arnold Journey 