because of God's love

Forgiveness Displays Love
Day 8

by Gini Crawford, MSW

posted 12/21/2016, revised 5/19/2018

1 Corinthians 13 has been called the Love Chapter of the Bible. Below is the passage in 1 Corinthians 13 that specifically describes God's love.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NASB®

In 1 Corinthians 13, one of the ways God's love is described is that love "does not take into account a wrong suffered." What does this phrase mean? This phrase is a verbal picture of a bookkeeper writing down numbers in a ledger to keep an exact account and then watching the account. What it is saying to us is, if you love someone you will NOT keep an account of the offense they did to you. My aunt would keep a mental record of what people did to her that she perceived as negative. How do I know she did? She talked about those perceived wrongs constantly. The result was she found it very hard to forgive. A loving person will not write down the wrongs done to them, so they can let the wrongs go (Luke 6:35-38). Do you mentally keep records of what you perceive as wrongs?

How do you NOT take into account a wrong suffered? When you think of the wrong she did to you, you do not start keeping a mental record of the wrong. You do not start planning a way to get back at her. Instead, ask God to help you write down all the positive things she has done towards you. Additionally ask God to give you the desire and strength to forgive the wrong she did. Nowadays, with technology, many wrongs done to us are already written down, such as a rude email or text message. I have found the delete button is handy for forgiving, so I don't go back and look, making myself mad at the person. If you are struggling with forgiving, remember, Jesus Christ didn't take into account our wrongs ... but died for them so He could forgive us! (Isaiah 53, 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Life Application

Can you love someone and not forgive them? Do you love someone but are treating that someone badly? Be honest. We can all be angry at someone which leads us to be mean consciously or unconsciously towards the person. What you need to do is, ask yourself, "Why am I being mean to that person I love? Do I have a mental account of some wrong and won't let it go, so consequently am getting back at that person?" If you love someone you will be working on forgiving the person, not on payback for an offense. What helps me to not keep a mental account of a person's wrong, is to instead be thinking of the positive and kind things the person has done. When you keep a mental record of wrongs, and don't even bother to remember the good people do, you end up being a very unloving, ungrateful and judgmental type of person. I hope you take the time to consistently remember the good people do! Memorize 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

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