The Character of True Love

Have you ever kept a mental list of someone's wrongs against you? Paul describes love not with feelings but with actions. In Corinth, a church full of division and pride (1 Cor 1:11), this was a direct correction. Love is patient with difficult people. It is kind when kindness is not deserved. It does not boast or seek its own way. Crucially, it refuses to keep an account of wrongs suffered. This love is a series of deliberate choices, not a fleeting emotion. It is the very character of God Himself.

This kind of love feels impossible, does not it? That is because in our own strength, it is. This is not a standard you must achieve. It is a description of the Holy Spirit's work in you. God does not keep a ledger of your sins because Jesus paid the full account (Col 2:14). His patience with you is endless. John Chrysostom saw this divine patience as the root of love, a long suffering that covers all faults. Because God loves you this way, you can trust Him to help you love others without keeping score. Where do you need His strength to love like this today?

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you one 'debt' you are holding against someone and to help you cancel it today.

Father, thank you that You keep no record of my wrongs. Forgive my resentful heart and help me release the debts I feel others owe me. Fill me with Your love so that I can love others freely. Amen.

In ancient Greco-Roman culture, 'keeping score' of favors given and received was a social expectation. Paul’s instruction for love to do the opposite was culturally radical and distinctly Christian.