How to Do 1 Corinthians 13 Love
David W Palmer
(1 Corinthians 13:4–7 TLB) “Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, {5} never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. {6} It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. {7} If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.”
The only reason we can love God and others in the way described in this passage is because he first loved us in this way:
(1 John 4:19 KJV) We love him, because he first loved us.
The opening passage describes God’s love; therefore it reveals how he loves us. Plus, because he has poured his love into our hearts, this means that we can love him and others with this same love. In other words, you have in you the power, ability, grace, and agape to practice love to others in the ways described in the above passage. Let’s look again in point form at how the Holy Spirit describes this love he expects and empowers us to practice wholeheartedly:
This daunting list of practical love would be completely overwhelming if we see it only as a legalism—that has to be fulfilled by our willpower alone trying to control our [selfish] flesh. If we try to live love that way—by simply forcing ourselves to do it by the sheer resolve of our choices—we will end up in the dilemma described by the apostle Paul:
(Romans 7:19–25 NLT) “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. {20} But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. {21} I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. {22} I love God’s law with all my heart. {23} But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. {24} Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? {25} Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”
The beloved Paul describes a problem; he wanted to do what he saw in God’s word, but he simply couldn’t do it: “I want to do what is good, but I don’t.” In this dilemma, he concluded: “I am a slave to sin.” Thank God that he also discovered the solution; in other words, the Holy Spirit showed the apostle Paul how to actually do what he knew he should do: “The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Then, the Holy Spirit had him write Rom. 8:1. Because of the chapter division, we don’t always see the connection between the last verse of chapter 7 and the first verse of the next chapter:
(Romans 7:24–8:1 NKJV) “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? {25} I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. {1} There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”
In Romans 7, the apostle Paul was under demoralizing condemnation; he knew what to do, but couldn’t will himself to do it. However, in cha
