Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4–7
How can you tell if someone loves you? Such an intangible is often easier to demonstrate than it is to define. While love consists of multiple virtues––patience, kindness, generosity, humility, courtesy, selflessness, guilelessness, and sincerity (1 Corinthians 13:4–5)––love is more than the sum of its ingredients. Love can only be measured by sustained action, so in order to assess our love, let us consider some of the things that love does.
Love serves. If we love God, we will serve Him as our Master (Matthew 6:24). If we love one another as brethren, we will follow the example that Jesus gave of how we should serve one another (John 13:12–17). Love is not as interested in what can be done for self as it is in what it can do in service to others; in other words, “love does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5).
Love waits. Love is what has compelled God to be patient with man. Love is why God “waited in the days of Noah” for the preparation of the ark even though evil had grown so great (1 Peter 3:20). Love is also the reason that God has waited so long to judge the world (2 Peter 3:9). Just as Jesus suffered long with the generation of men that He served (Matthew 17:17), we must be longsuffering toward one another (Ephesians 4:1–3; Colossians 3:12–14).
Love obeys. Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word” (John 14:23), and conversely, “He who does not love Me does not keep My words” (v 24). If we love Jesus, we will do what He says. In like manner, love provokes children to submit to their parents (Ephesians 6:1–3), wives to submit to their husbands (Ephesians 5:22–25), and Christians to submit to their elders (1 Thesslonians 5:12–13).
Love instructs. When Jesus instructed men, He always did so out of love for them (see Mark 10:21). The apostle Paul did the same thing. When he went into the Jewish synagogues and preached upon entering a new city, it was his love for the Jews that compelled him to do so (Romans 9:1–3; 10:1–2; 11:13–14). Love will likewise compel us to teach our children (Ephesians 6:4) and our neighbors (2 Corinthians 5:10–14).
Love corrects. Discipline is only effective when it is administered with love. This is the way that the Lord corrects His children (Hebrews 12:5–17; Rev. 3:19), and this is how we should correct ours. As Christians we also have a responsibility to correct one another when we fall into sin (1 Corinthians 5:5; cf. 2 Corinthians 2:6–8).
Love sacrifices. Our Lord demonstrated His great love for us in the sacrifice that He made, and He tells us that this is the measure of love He wishes us to have for one another (John 15:12–14). Parents also show their love for their children through the sacrifices they make (2 Corinthians 12:11–15).
Love is what compelled Jesus to ascend Calvary’s hill to suffer the consequences of your sins and mine. How have you demonstrated your love for Him?