It Starts Small

Yesterday we started in on the scripture in 1 Corinthians 13:6.

Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.

1 Corinthians 13:6

Paul is teaching us what love is and is not. Yesterday we walked through pondering if in our lives, we celebrate when others fall. We secretly tell them they deserve the darkness and the pit they are in based on their wrong doings and choices they have made. We are quick to gossip and talk about those we do not like when they have fallen. This is not love! Paul says Love does NOT rejoice in iniquity.

The verse continues, “but rejoices in truth.”

Today we ask ourselves:

When you see other people blessed — perhaps receiving a blessing or special attention that you have longed to receive yourself — are you able to truly rejoice with them? Does it thrill you to know that other people are moving upward in life? Or does it threaten you and make you sad when you see someone else receiving a blessing you wished was yours?

When we think someone else has gotten a blessing that should have been ours, this can lead us to bitterness, resentment, and is the root of envy and jealousy. Remember, we learned, love does not envy.

How we respond to others when they are blessed (by their own consequences or by the Lord) is our own fruit inspection of the love or a hate we have within our hearts.

What we need to do is reclaim the love—God’s love—that rejoices with the truth. This is:

Love with integrity and honesty.

Love that is God-honoring.

Love that is not manipulative or defensive.

Love that takes no pleasure in the failures of others.

Love that sacrifices for others.

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