I have confessions to make. The first is that today was busy beyond busy. It was almost four in the afternoon before the words “First Corinthians Thirteen” even entered my head. It was then that I realized I’d not really messed up and been super unloving, but neither had I rushed out of my way to drizzle love over everyone around me. I was simply on autopilot, trying to have time to breathe my way through the day. And it wasn’t going well.
The second confession is that today’s verse confuses me. Today it’s time for verse six – “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” I think it confuses me because I don’t consider truth and evil to be opposites. But the way that sentence reads, it makes them opposites.
I suppose to have thought about that perplexity earlier in the day wouldn’t have done me any good because I didn’t have time to decipher it. So I’ll throw out my thoughts on the subject.
Love does not delight in evil…
Evil. Bad. Negative. When I’m living in love, I won’t be thrilled about the bad things. That means I won’t secretly do a happy dance when someone gets what they’ve got coming to them. That means I won’t be a supporter of people who are out to mess up life for everyone else. That means I won’t be giddy when someone takes a hit in life – no matter how much I may want to dislike him or her.
I think it also means I won’t seek out a bad lifestyle. I won’t want to be drawn to the things that drag me or others down. I will want positive over negative.
And speaking of that – love rejoices in the truth. I’ve been learning a lot about the word “truth” lately. I’ve been reading Elizabeth George’s book Loving God with All your Mind, and I’ve also been reading Gracia Burnham’s book, To Fly Again. Both have addressed the subject of truth. Clinging to what we know to be true. Believing the truth. Truth in these books is presented as something rock-solid. Good. Right.
And that is what I’m supposed to rejoice in. I’m to live joyfully in all things God – all things true. And even if my world is filled with evil, God prevails with truth. And in that, I should rejoice.
I guess maybe they are opposites. Satan represents all things evil, and God represents all things true. So I don’t have anything to do with the evil and I have everything to do with the truth.
Thanks for letting me think it out loud. I think it makes sense now.
The second confession is that today’s verse confuses me. Today it’s time for verse six – “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” I think it confuses me because I don’t consider truth and evil to be opposites. But the way that sentence reads, it makes them opposites.
I suppose to have thought about that perplexity earlier in the day wouldn’t have done me any good because I didn’t have time to decipher it. So I’ll throw out my thoughts on the subject.
Love does not delight in evil…
Evil. Bad. Negative. When I’m living in love, I won’t be thrilled about the bad things. That means I won’t secretly do a happy dance when someone gets what they’ve got coming to them. That means I won’t be a supporter of people who are out to mess up life for everyone else. That means I won’t be giddy when someone takes a hit in life – no matter how much I may want to dislike him or her.
I think it also means I won’t seek out a bad lifestyle. I won’t want to be drawn to the things that drag me or others down. I will want positive over negative.
And speaking of that – love rejoices in the truth. I’ve been learning a lot about the word “truth” lately. I’ve been reading Elizabeth George’s book Loving God with All your Mind, and I’ve also been reading Gracia Burnham’s book, To Fly Again. Both have addressed the subject of truth. Clinging to what we know to be true. Believing the truth. Truth in these books is presented as something rock-solid. Good. Right.
And that is what I’m supposed to rejoice in. I’m to live joyfully in all things God – all things true. And even if my world is filled with evil, God prevails with truth. And in that, I should rejoice.
I guess maybe they are opposites. Satan represents all things evil, and God represents all things true. So I don’t have anything to do with the evil and I have everything to do with the truth.
Thanks for letting me think it out loud. I think it makes sense now.
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