Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth.
Love is central to the Christian life. In Christ, our lives are meant to be lives of love. When Jesus was asked “What is the greatest commandment?” He replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments,” (Matthew 22:37-40).
In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul fleshes out what it means to live the life of love. Since all the law and the prophets hang on the two love commandments, since every other law and moral principle in the Bible are examples of how to love, this was no easy task. Paul’s approach is to give us some idea of what it means, by providing us with a list of characteristics. Our verse for today includes two of them.
First of all, love is not happy when people do wrong. That is, love hates injustice. All of us know what it is like to be treated badly, and none of us likes it. It is unfair and it hurts. People filled with love for God and other people won’t ignore injustice around them. In so far as they are able, they will do what they can to remedy the situation. It may amount to nothing more than informing the proper authorities, but it will be the right thing to do. We are called to the ministry of reconciliation, after all (2 Corinthians 5:18).
Second, love is always happy with the truth. That is, love is happy when that which is just and true prevails. We live in a world where injustices and the deceptions that mask them are common. When the injustices are righted and the deceptions are exposed, people of love rejoice. Indeed, people of love do what they can to produce justice and reveal truth.
The life of love is a life of righteousness and justice, pleasing to God. The Lord blesses the righteous and surrounds them with His favor (Psalm 5:12).
By John Huisman, friend of Bible League International
