Jesus Is All We Need: 10 Devotions to Experience the Rescuing Love of GodSample

Love Rights All Wrongs

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. I CORINTHIANS 13:4-7 ESV

When our boys were four and six years old, we took a road trip to Zion National Park. Since it was a fourteen-hour drive, Kristie suggested we take our time and grab a hotel halfway. She said it would be easier on the boys. I told her the boys needed to man up and deal with it. They had air-conditioning and iPads, for crying out loud!

Kristie gave me an “I told you so” look, which was odd because nothing bad had happened. Yet.

Fast-forward seven hours, and the boys in the backseat had been replaced by two broken records. I’m tired! I’m bored! My butt is sore! I’m hungry!

Finally, I lost it and became that dad. I yelled “Quiet!” at a volume that was definitely inappropriate. The car then became uncomfortably quiet, except for the soft sobbing from the backseat and the glare—I swear it was audible— from my bride in the passenger seat.

I felt horrible, and so did everyone else. I repented, with the help of some McDonald’s soft-serve cones and a motel with a pool.

Now, I’m not claiming to be a biblical scholar, but I think the church in Corinth, to whom Paul was writing, was messed up. I can identify! In I Corinthians 13, Paul is specifically showing them that they aren’t relating to each other the right way. They’re being selfish and insisting on their own way.

As Christians, we are already full of God’s love, but as broken people learning to live like Jesus, we can experience the same struggles Paul was writing about.

Can we be arrogant? Sure, but love is not regularly rude. Can we puff up with pride sometimes and boast? Unfortunately, yes, but pride doesn’t define the life of someone following Christ.

We are all messy, and at times our messiness spills out onto others, and vice versa. But let’s strive to let God’s way of loving inform the patterns of our lives.

Takeaway: God's perfect love can fix anything.

Prayer: God, thank You for giving me what I need to settle the quarrels within me and among others. Without love, it would just get worse, but with love, all things can be endured!