So you think you know the Love Chapter. Originally posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at 11:24am

1 Corinthians 13 is familiar passage weddings. I have read through it and studied it on more than one occassion. However it was not till today when I read the Jerry Bridges' paraphrase from Chapter 17 of The Practice of Godliness. http://www.amazon.com/Practice-Godliness-has-value-things/dp/0891099417

1 Corinthians 13 paraphrase.
I am patient with you becuse I love you and want to forgive you.
I am kind to you because I love you and want to help you.
I do not envy your possessions or your gifts because I love you and want you to have the best.
I do not boast about my attainments because I love you and want to hear about yours.
I am not proud because I love you and want to esteem you before myself.
I am not rude because I love you and care about your feelings.
I am not self-seeking because I love you and want to meet your needs.
I am not easlily angered by you because I love you and want to overlook your offenses.
I do not keep a record of your wrongs because I love you, and "ove covers a multitude of sins"[1 Peter 4:8].

I read these and I don't like it.
I'm not a patient man.

I can be kind, but are my motives pure?

This is America. Envy of your neighbors "stuff" is the way the media has raised us..."Because your worth it." "You DESERVE break today."

Boasting? I don't want to boast of my acheivments. I want YOU to boast of my acheivements.

Pride? Don't even want to go there on a public forum.

Rude? I had that down to and art form at one time and I was proud of it.

Self-seeking? I can hear myself now telling people I "love" about "my needs" and what "I" want.

Easily angered? Not so much. I still got a temper, but the Lord is teaching me and I've got a longer fuse.

Record of wrongs? Time to burn that black book. Forgiving is NOT forgetting. That's impossible. However forgiving IS no longer holding the offense against that person. It does not mean you trust them, that must be earned. It means you no longer desire to punish the offender.

I really got convicted today. It seems to closer I get to God the clearer I see how far I really am from him.