Love Camps
What does it really look like to love? A young woman proclaimed to me “I want a relationship like you have with your husband.”
“Right away?” I asked.
“Yes!”
“Not possible,” I replied. “What you see is years of work and determination. Love takes awareness, work, and perseverance. It is much more than a feeling.”
The Apostle Paul said it like this:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
There are clear directives here that almost feel like two different camps. I say camps because in times of frustration, it is easy to pack up our feelings and move over to the “love is not” camp. The goal is to build a house in “love is” instead of a temporary dwelling. However, we are human and staying put in love is hard.
| Love is | Love is not |
| Patient: implies process | Jealous |
| Kind | boastful |
| Loves truth | Proud |
| Perseveres | Rude |
| Faithful | Demanding |
| Hopeful | Irritable |
| Endures | Record of being wrong |
| = doing what is right | Rejoices of injustice |
When I feel myself heading into the self-absorbed world of not loving, I try to stop the packing of my negative thoughts. Taking a deep breath, I try to determine why am I feeling this way? I can’t stop the other person from their behavior, but I can control my reaction. I can graciously put-up boundaries if need be but I work to stay put in love.
In 2024, we are working on relationships and it all centers on loving like Jesus. How do you keep yourself from packing your bags and moving to “love is not?” I’d love to hear it
