Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
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.
Reflection
Paul's hymn to love is one of the most practical passages in Scripture, because it describes love not as a feeling but as a behavior. Patient, kind, not insisting on its own way — these are specific choices made again and again in the friction of daily relationships. It is easy to love in the abstract; it is hard to love patiently when you have been waiting for an hour, when you are tired, when the same offense has happened again. This is the love that the Spirit grows in us — the kind that transforms ordinary moments into holiness.
Prayer for Today
Creator God, you made a world with no sickness, pain or death but, because of sin, we now live in a world where we experience those things. We can not control the things that happen to us, we need to cling onto you. Thank you that you care about the people that I love. You love them more than I do. Help them to look to you in their time of need. May we all find peace in the hope that you will return one day to rule over a new creation with no more sadness, pain or tears. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
Amen.