Love's example a tough goal

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.

When I read this scripture this morning I realized that all too often when a preacher is expounding on this passage, they preach and teach on the verse up to the word resentful. So, I started to look at the rest of the verse and to pray on that.

Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins; or love takes no pleasure in other people’s misery. Often what is our sin is also our misery, our living hell. You see, it might be reasonable to think or believe that hell isn’t a destination per se but rather a place in which we put ourselves with our actions and inactions. If we walk with the light of God, the light of Christ as our spirit and guide then we can’t take pleasure in other’s misery or even our own. Wow, knock my socks off on that.

Saying we can’t is a pretty lofty expectation though. Maybe a better turn of phrase is that we shouldn’t take pleasure in other’s misery. This part of the verse is an excellent example of how humans fall short; obviously only a perfect person is the only person who could always overlook with no pleasure another’s failings; that perfect person would of course be the One, the Great I am, the Son of Man, Christ who came as flesh and remains as spirit to teach and lead as example. What people can pray for is the strength to rise to His example; to try.

As a believer, a thinker and a hoper, which is what I believe a follower of Christ is; then through that belief and trust we should endeavor to excuse other’s transgressions; help rescue them from their misery and hope and trust that God will guide us to those ends. No small task indeed.