Through Christ, Christians receive mutual correction controlled by patience. In deliverance from our sin (correction), Christ demonstrates patience. This patience is rooted in love. Gal 5:22 depicts this relationship. The passage lists love before patience in the fruit of the Spirit. Love in association with patience forbears with others and remains alongside others to admonish, encourage, and help. In addition, love and friendliness foster patience which provides insight and better knowledge of humankind’s situations before God. This knowledge is granted only through the revelation of Christ. Through Christ, God and Christians demonstrate forbearance rooted in love.
In 1 Cor 13, Paul identifies love. In verses 1 – 3, he contends that love is the foundation for Christian acts of service. In this context, Paul formulates the necessity of love. In verses 4, 5, and 6, Paul continues the identification of love by contrasting it to what it is not. These contrasted items identify verbs or actions that do not adhere to the behavior of love. In verse 6, Paul provides an explanation of the contrast action of love not rejoicing in unrighteousness to it rejoicing with the truth. In verse 7, Paul concludes or completes the identification of love by highlighting the attributes or characteristics that allow love to maintain its course. These characteristics of bears, believes, hopes, and endures qualifies the love that God exudes through Christ. Therefore, as one applies the actions of love, one imitates the love of God. In verses 8 – 13, he demonstrates that love remains unchanged indefinitely. In Paul’s progression of identifying love, he climatically concludes that love is greater than faith and hope.
Christians are called to implement / apply Paul’s declaration of love. As Christians continue their acts of service for God, they are called to endure difficult circumstances with others, encourage, and help others knowing that it produces others betterment before God. When Christians possess these characteristics, they also act in remembrance of God’s actions towards them. God through Christ first exemplified these characteristics in his ministry and on the cross. Through Christ Christians possess the ability to love as love covers a multitude of sin.
