Love in the Small Print

This chapter is often read at weddings, but Paul wrote it to a quarrelsome church. He describes love in verbs and adjectives that apply to coworkers, siblings, and neighbors: patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not easily angered, not keeping a record of wrongs. Read 1 Corinthians 13:5 and pay attention to the last part, which says love does not hold a ledger of wrongs. Most of us keep an internal list of who owes us an apology. Releasing it is not pretending nothing happened; it is refusing to let old offenses govern the relationship. Love bears, believes, hopes, and endures, which sounds like stamina more than sentiment. Today, choose one relationship where you have been keeping score. Ask God to help you name one thing you can let go, and practice one act of patience or kindness toward that person without expecting anything in return.