Sibling Harmony - Step 1: What is Love?

Since St. Valentine's Day is coming up I thought I'd do a post that will get my throat cut XD. I have to do a lot of building to prove my point, so please bear with me...

I've said many times before that love is a choice. You choose to love someone whether or not they deserve it, whether or not you feel like it. So how do you start?

Everyone knows 1Corinthians 13, but let's look at it as a list, Love is:
Patient
Kind
Not Jealous
Does not Brag
Is not Arrogant
Does not act Unbecomingly
Does not Seek it's Own
Is not Provoked
Does not Keep a Record of Wrongs Suffered
Hates Unrighteousness
Rejoices in Truth
Bears All Things
Believes All Things
Hopes All Things
Endures All Things
Never Fails

Some list, huh? Let's break it down into applicable terms...

Patience means:
to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart
to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles
to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others
to be mild and slow in avenging
to be long suffering, slow to anger, slow to punish

Therefore to love means to be slow to anger, to bravely endure misfortunes, and to be slow in avenging.

Kindness means:
to be friendly, generous, or warm-hearted
to be sympathetic or understanding; charitable
to be humane; considerate
to be forbearing (self-sacrificing); tolerant
to be agreeable; beneficial

Therefore, to love means to be friendly, generous, understanding, and self-sacrificing.

Jealousy is to be heated or to boil with envy, hatred, or anger. The opposite of this would be to be to be glad for others, to be content, and to be (guess what) loving.

Bragging means to boast. Boasting is a prideful, vulgar showcasing of one's own abilities. Need I say that Pride is one of the Seven Deadly Sins? Need I say that since we are petty humans worthy of eternal punishment, what gall must I have to even consider that my abilities are something to be thought of as "WORTHY"? Love is humble and modest.

Arrogance is the unabashed show of pride. It's application is similar to bragging, but more drastic. The opposite of arrogance is humility.

Unbecoming is similar to childish in its meaning. To act unbecomingly is to act childish. Therefore, love does not act childish.

Seeking one's own means a lot more than simply being selfish. When you "seek your own" you are using people and circumstances to your advantage regardless of whom you will be hurting or crushing. Love goes beyond such petty thoughts and seeks to build up others rather than using people.

To provoke is to make someone angry at or scorn something (or someone). When someone is loving, they don't want to look down on people in a scornful way, but instead, they want to view that person as an equal or even give honor.

I hardly think I need to even explain this one: keeps no record of wrongs suffered. You know what I'm talking about; when someone can recall every injustice suffered at the hands of another, that is NOT love. Love forgives and refuses to linger in past faults. That does not mean love is stupid and does not care about character -- far from it -- but love does not view people as less because of their wrongdoings.

Righteousness and Truth. People who are examples of true love do their utmost to be righteous examples of Jesus Christ and refuse to tolerate sin. It is FAR FAR more loving to show someone their sin rather than ignore the problems. A loving person also cares about truth; being plain, straight forward and not devious. If you truly love someone, you would never deceive them.

Bears, Believes, Hopes, Endures. True Love will hold up against any hardships -- unfalteringly. To believe all things does not mean "believes anything" but "believes the best of all things." When you hear a rumor (true or no) do you defend that person? or do you believe the worst? Hope means "trust"; love trusts -- not anyone or anything -- but when you are showing love, you must be willing to place some amount of trust in that person. Also, love will endure through any storm. Meaning that love will have the strength (bear) to continue on (endure) through whatever trials may come and no matter how long.

And lastly: Love Never Fails... I find no need to expound on that. True love, TRUE LOVE will never fail to carry all these things out.

Showing love is no simple task, but it can be done with God. This is all that I will put in this post, but I will build in my next...

Link to Step 2