Send to Kindleby Robin McKinley,
Narrated by Artificial Intelligence, Jasper,
Click Above to Read and/or Listen to the Devotional
We tend to use the words “always” and “never” quite often in our conversations, especially when someone upsets us.
- “You always treat me this way.”
- “You never listen to me.”
- “You always cut me off or always say things to put me down.”
- “You never take me seriously.
We seem to be quick to always or never someone in the negative. But never, I mean, not so much in the positive. So, let’s look at the always and nevers of love.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.1 Corinthians 13:7-8
Verse four tells us some characteristics of love. Love is patient, love is kind. Patience and love cover a lot of territory, but love carries more attributes than just those two.
We can find the rest of them in the book of Galatians. There we will see love’s other attributes.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23
We have the complete picture of what defines love. Now we can turn our attention to one of our verses for today, which tells what love does.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.1 Corinthians 13:7
Did you notice the common word in each of those phrases? Yes, the word always! It doesn’t do any of those things some of the time; it does them all of the time! I realize that’s a tall order.
So, how can we express love all the time? We’ve already covered the answer to that earlier in Galatians 5: “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives.”
Since we can’t express love on our own, God has given each of us His power through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
What Love Never Does
Because of our sinful and selfish nature, Paul needed to go into a little more detail on the negative side. In the following few verses, we’ll see what love doesn’t do.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13:4-6
Paul didn’t give us any reasons why love doesn’t do those things. He did tell us, however, how we can replace those negative characteristics with the true love sent from heaven.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.1 Corinthians 13:6
Paul makes an all-inclusive statement at the beginning of verse eight. He said, Love never fails. Many things in the world fail, but we can’t count love amongst them.
People can become unloving and insensitive at times. That doesn’t mean that we should respond in the same way. The Lord will always help us to extend his love to everyone we encounter.
With God’s help, we can walk on both sides of a two-way street. We must always love according to the biblical definition, and never have an unloving attitude toward anyone, no matter what.
Lord, thank you for the love you have given to us. Help us always to shower others with your love and never be impatient or unkind to anyone.
About the Author:
Robin, with his wife Cindy, became children’s evangelists early in their ministry. They ministered to children full time for 8 years. During that time they developed several children’s stories which were told with visuals and puppets.
Robin recently turned two of those stories into children’s books. One is called “The Contest,” a book about the Fruit of the Spirit, and the other is called “Twas the Night of Christmas”. He has also authored 5 volumes of devotional books called, 3 Minutes Alone with God. Each entry is a product of his personal biblical Journaling.
These and his other writings are available on his website called Christian Perspectives at www.ramckinley.com. When you visit this site, you can sign-up for newly written devotions as they come out which will be emailed to you.
Presently Robin is the pastor of Calvary Christian Center in Pottstown, PA. He is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God. He and his wife make their home in Birdsboro, Pa. He also serves as the president of the local ministerium. He and Cindy have two married sons and four grandchildren.
