1 Corinthians 13:4a Love suffers long

John 15:20b If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;

I link these two verses together for a proper understanding of agape love which dwells in me. His will is always to bring the lost sheep to salvation. If we think about suffering in any other term than spiritual, we misunderstand this purpose for His abiding love.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Loving like that is not instinctual or natural. We cannot do this in our own strength. We need God’s abiding agape love to change our very nature. Persecution takes on many forms. Most of it takes on the form of testing your faith. We will be very fortunate if it never gets physical. For some of us it has already done so.

Revelation 6:9-11 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Everyone I know would just as soon avoid such persecution. They will look everywhere in scriptures for joy, happiness, fellowship, and peace to find comfort. Where will they turn when things go against their wishes?

1 Corinthians 13 is the love chapter of the bible. Paul tells us how agape love acts. We can measure our growth in Christ based how well we are doing in loving others using this chapter as a measuring stick.

2 Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

All too often we do just this, compare our growth to others around us. The world teaches us to be competitive. Trying to grow in Christ by comparing ourselves among ourselves is like three men being chased by a lion. You cannot outrun the lion so your aim is to outrun the other two.

That is allowing fear to be your motivation. That is the Old Testament motive, not our New Testament motive.  Agape love, His indwelling love, is our motivation now. We need to somehow measure our growth in Christ to know when it is the indwelling love that is at work or self-effort. Having a proper understanding of 1 Corinthians 13 in respect to agape love will help us make that determination.

Comparing self to the Word takes an honest evaluation of self and a proper understanding of His word. Since I cannot speak for you in self-examination, I will try and speak to a right understanding of His Word and reveal perhaps some of myself as I have measured myself.

I will take one attribute of agape love at a time as they appear in order. The first three verses deal with what we sound like, what we are and the path we have taken. The first trait appears in 1 Corinthians 13:4 suffers long (KJV), is patient in many other versions.

We will begin here.