True Love

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

People talk about different kinds of love. There’s the love of a parent for a child, the love between two best friends, the love a boy has for a girl, the love between a married couple, or the love a pet owner has for a pet. People also say they love a favorite food, a book, a movie or song, a certain piece of clothing, or a vacation spot.

But do they really love those things? People use the word love when they actually mean “like,” “enjoy,” “prefer,” or “care about” something. God talks about true love in 1 Corinthians 13, a chapter of the Bible that is often called the “love chapter.” In 1 Corinthians 13, God gives us the qualities of true love: love is patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, not rude, doesn’t demand its own way, is not irritable, and doesn’t keep track of being wronged.

If you want to know if you really love someone, think about the list from the love chapter. Do you mentally keep track of all the times someone has hurt your feelings? Do you always want to do only your favorite activities when you’re planning something with your friends? Do you ever get jealous of what someone else has? Are you patient with others?

You can recognize true love, God’s kind of love, by looking for the things listed in 1 Corinthians 13.

Look up 1 Corinthians 13 in your Bible. Some of the verses are already listed above. Make a list of the things each verse says about love. How important did the apostle Paul, the man who wrote this chapter, feel love was? How well do you do at loving others based on the signs of real love?