Welcome to Day 173 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about finding nourishment in the Word of God to get us through the day. In each devotional, I take a variety of scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses each) and build our understanding of what they teach via their context and connecting scripture. My goal is to help you understand how to be the type of human God created you to be. Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 13:6-7.

1 Corinthians 13:6-7 

NASB	NLT	VOICE
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;	6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.	6 or celebrate injustice; but truth – yes, truth – is love’s delight!
7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.	7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.	7 Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what.

Before we trivialize these words about love by assuming they can easily fit us, we should pause to consider that they describe God’s character. These are substantial descriptions of how God connects to us. Let’s review them, using verses 4 and 5 that we described yesterday.

• LOVE IS…
  • Patient
  • Kind
  • Rejoicing when truth wins out.
  • Never giving up
  • Never losing faith
  • Always hopeful.
  • Enduring through every circumstance.
• LOVE IS NOT…
  • Jealous
  • Boastful
  • Proud
  • Rude
  • Demanding
  • Irritable
  • Keeping records of wrongs
  • Rejoicing about injustice.

Let’s look at this with God as our focus. God is patient with us, allowing us to make our mistakes and find our ways to him and through him. God is kind, allowing us the journey to look for and find. God rejoices when the truth is looked for, for victory was found through the battles of his Holy Spirit. God never gives up on us, for he knows we are created through him to do great things. God never loses faith in us, for he knows we will have the ability to find our way to him with the gifts and talents he has within us. God is always hopeful, showing us how to find the positive in the chaos of life. God is enduring through every circumstance, loving us through all parts of our life no matter what we do.

God is not jealous, at least not jealous in the way we think of it. God doesn’t show his love through his jealousy. God is a jealous god, but because we often put many things above him to prioritize. God wants us to focus on him and allow his blessings to permeate through all parts of our lives. God doesn’t boast. God doesn’t show his love to us boastfully, but often in the still and small moments. God isn’t egotistical and proud but often focuses on the needs of others and the success of others. God isn’t rude to us, nor does he demand more of us than we can handle. God doesn’t get irritated with us. God doesn’t keep a record of our wrongs, for he forgives and forgets. God doesn’t rejoice about injustices, but he mourns and grieves along side us when the chaos of the world happens.

Next slice of Manna: Manna for the Mind #174