" LOVE Does Not Delight In Evil But Rejoices With The Truth."

What is love?

Grace Gems (Courtesy  www.paultripp.com)

LOVE IS... being willing to have your life 

complicated by the needs and struggles 

of others without impatience or anger.

LOVE IS... actively fighting the temptation 

to be critical and judgmental toward another 

while looking for ways to encourage and praise.

LOVE IS... making a daily commitment 

to resist the needless moments of conflict 

that come from pointing out and responding 

to minor offenses.

LOVE IS... being lovingly honest and humbly 

approachable in times of misunderstanding.

LOVE IS... being more committed to unity 

and understanding than you are to winning, 

accusing, or being right.

LOVE IS... a making a daily commitment 

to admit your sin, weakness, and failure 

and to resist the temptation to offer 

an excuse or shift the blame.

LOVE IS... being willing, when confronted 

by another, to examine your heart rather than 

rising to your defense or shifting the focus.

LOVE IS... making a daily commitment 

to grow in love so that the love you offer 

to another is increasingly selfless, 

mature, and patient.

LOVE IS... being unwilling to do what 

is wrong when you have been wronged, 

but looking for concrete and specific 

ways to overcome evil with good.

LOVE IS... being a good student of another, 

looking for their physical, emotional, and 

spiritual needs so that in some way you can 

remove the burden, support them as they 

carry it, or encourage them along the way.

LOVE IS... being willing to invest the time 

necessary to discuss, examine, and understand 

the relational problems you face, staying on 

task until the problem is removed or you 

have agreed upon a strategy of response.

LOVE IS... being willing to always ask for 

forgiveness and always being committed 

to grant forgiveness when it is requested.

LOVE IS... recognizing the high value 

of trust in a relationship and being faithful 

to your promises and true to your word.

LOVE IS... speaking kindly and gently, 

even in moments of disagreement, refusing 

to attack the other person's character 

or assault their intelligence.

LOVE IS... being unwilling to flatter, lie, 

manipulate, or deceive in any way in order 

to coerce the other person into giving you 

what you want or doing something your way.

LOVE IS... the willingness to have less 

free time, less sleep, and a busier schedule 

in order to be faithful to what GOD has 

called you to be and to do as a spouse, 

parent, neighbor, etc.

LOVE IS... a commitment to say no to selfish 

instincts and to do everything that is within 

your ability to promote real unity, functional 

understanding, and active love in your 

relationships.

LOVE IS... staying faithful to your commitment to 

treat another with appreciation, respect, and grace, 

even in moments when the other person doesn't 

seem deserving or is unwilling to reciprocate.

LOVE IS... the willingness to make regular and 

costly sacrifices for the sake of a relationship 

without asking for anything in return or using 

your sacrifices to place the other person 

in your debt.

LOVE IS... being unwilling to make any personal 

decision or choice that would harm a relationship, 

hurt the other person, or weaken the bond 

of trust between you.

LOVE IS... refusing to be self-focused or 

demanding, but instead looking for specific 

ways to serve, support, and encourage, 

even when you are busy or tired.

LOVE IS... daily admitting to yourself, the other 

person, and GOD that you are unable to be driven 

by a cruciform love without GOD'S protecting, 

providing, forgiving, rescuing, and delivering grace. 

 [By Paul Tripp. 

The above resource is from Paul Tripp Ministries. 

For additional resources, visit www.paultripp.com. Used with permission.]

"Love is patient, love is kind.
 It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,  it is not 

 easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, 

   always perseveres.
 Love never fails!" 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

   

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GraceGems has published J.R. Miller's uplifting short article, 

"The Ministry of Kindness".