1 Corinthians 13:6 love Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Rejoice in the Greek is χαίρω chaírō, khah’-ee-ro; a primary verb; to be “cheer”ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation (on meeting or parting), be well:—farewell, be glad, God speed, greeting, hail, joy(- fully), rejoice.

Sometimes I like to take a definition to the extreme just to see how ridiculous it sounds.

What does joyfully hail sound like? Think about a football player doing his custom made victory dance after scoring a touchdown. How ridiculous would it look to act like that after you sin any sin? Pick your favorite sin and take a victory lap in your mind. Looks ridiculous doesn’t it?

When you sin that is exactly what the devil is doing.

To be fair that kind of reaction to truth would look ridiculous too. The reaction from Jesus when we embrace truth would most like be exactly that, an embrace. He might even whisper in your ear, “Yes.”

While my image of an extreme reaction to sin is unlikely, it begs to ask; how do you feel about sin? Does it bother you at all? Does it bother you just the right amount? Do you have an obsessive compulsive hatred of sin?

During my review of the various translation there were a couple that pointed directly at other people’s sins. Do we ever take pleasure in other people’s sins? Do we ever take pleasure in other people’s sins being exposed? Do you take pleasure in just the accusation of sin?

Perhaps this is why Paul’s comparative of iniquity is with truth and not righteousness.

1 Corinthians 13:5d love thinks no evil

Let us be clear here, if you have an evil thought, it isn’t God who put it there. My best guess is that we have sinful thoughts that we do not classify as evil. We reserve the classification of evil to the most hideous and sinister category. God doesn’t think sin, so those lesser thoughts are on us.

Thinking is a natural process and there is a complex series of emotional and historical storage within our minds that play their part in our reasoning process. Wisdom aside, not all of us have the same experiences and we vary because of it in our ability to control our thoughts. My post-traumatic stress disorder has shown me one thing very valuable about the connection between history and reasoning. It was never what you thought it was just because you are strongly affected by events.

While the bible only spells out the renewing of the mind clearly in two places, Romans 12:2 and Ephesians 4:23, there is a serious need to let go of the past ways of thinking and take on a new mindset.

1 Corinthians 1:10, 2:16 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

How to do that isn’t made clear but there is a hint.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.