Learning to love others as Jesus loved us is a lifelong adventure. No one comes to a point where they don't need to learn more. But your lifelong education can get a good start by studying the thirteenth chapter of Paul's letter to the Corinthians.
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
DAY 4
1 Corinthians 13:4d
Charity vaunteth not itself,
Love does not parade itself
When you learn to love you will no longer:
| boast | brag |
| flaunt | crow |
| gloat | vaunt |
| strut | show off |
- The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul:
- the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalm 19:7
| Judges 11:30-31 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD, and said, "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, {31} "then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering." | Read this story. This man was filled with pride, not love. His vow was a boast, not a promise to do a Godly act. Pride is costly, as this man found out. |
| 1 Samuel 25:21-22,33-34 Now David had said, "Surely in vain I have protected all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belongs to him. And he has repaid me evil for good. {22} "May God do so, and more also, to the enemies of David, if I leave one male of all who belong to him by morning light." {33} "And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. {34} "For indeed, as the LORD God of Israel lives, who has kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hastened and come to meet me, surely by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!" | |
| 1 Kings 20:10-11 Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if enough dust is left of Samaria for a handful for each of the people who follow me." {11} So the king of Israel answered and said, "Tell him, 'Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.' " | |
| Psalms 10:5 His ways are always prospering; Your judgments are far above, out of his sight; As for all his enemies, he sneers at them. | |
| Proverbs 13:10 By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom. | |
| Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of strife is like releasing water; Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts. | |
| Proverbs 25:8-10 Do not go hastily to court; For what will you do in the end, When your neighbor has put you to shame? {9} Debate your case with your neighbor, And do not disclose the secret to another; {10} Lest he who hears it expose your shame, And your reputation be ruined. | |
| Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. {9} Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, For anger rests in the bosom of fools. | |
| Ecclesiastes 10:4 If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, Do not leave your post; For conciliation pacifies great offenses. | |
| Daniel 3:19-22 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. {20} And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. {21} Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. {22} Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. |
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
The Prophet Zephaniah makes it all fairly clear: "Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD's anger." We must keep in mind that when the Prophets speak, it is really the Law that speaks. Zephaniah says to seek meekness because God in His Law says to seek meekness.
Many acts of meekness, gentleness, and goodness are commanded in the Older Testament, but most Christians are utterly unfamiliar with this part of God's Holy Word. Surely this is an example of meekness, or gentleness:
If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Exodus 23:4-5
This kind of meekness is almost as radical as the meekness Jesus commands in the Sermon on the Mount.
No, it is not almost as radical, it is precisely the same. After the Advent of the Suffering Servant, it is infinitely clearer to us in the New Covenant just what meekness is, but when Jesus said "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," He was simply reminding the Pharisees what the Old Testament had already said. And when Paul says that the fruit of the Spirit is meekness, he is saying nothing more than Moses said and did.
Jesus our All-Powerful King, was meek and told us to "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Shouldn't the Christian be obeying God's Law?