Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs

The 13^th chapter of 1 Corinthians is a familiar passage.  It is read and recited at weddings and held out as a message of biblical love.  We often hear and take it as a whole but the parts themselves have important messages to share.  Love keeps no record of wrongs.  (1 Corinthians 13:5b)

This is an important message for anyone but especially for married couples.  Living with someone else 24/7 is trying for anyone, and there is no doubt that we get on each other’s nerves.  God pointed this scripture out to me one morning in my prayer time.  I was airing my grievances (a waste of good prayer time), telling God how this person and that person bugs me.  My husband’s name is often in that mix, believe it or not.

I heard God say, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”  Right.  No record of wrongs.  I find God’s dealings with me to be much more gentle than I deserve, which I appreciate.  For me to complain about anyone in light of my own short-comings is really ridiculous.  God, and many of the people around me, offers me a lot of tolerance.  But let’s say I am a bit short-sighted on this deal.  I think I have some valid claims; don’t you?

Let’s turn this around and look from God’s viewpoint.  My sins, and your sins, have reached all the way to Heaven, and all that I deserve from God is judgment, and yet, He gives grace instead.  I have pledged to follow Jesus, to try to become like Him, not to be worthy, because I can never be, but because I love Him and I made a promise.  My sincere attempts appreciated, my miserable failures pardoned.  And yet I want to hold my loved one accountable for their bad behavior.

Apparently I am not treating them as loved ones, since we know love covers a multitude of sins and keeps no record of wrongs.  Yet God gives more chances, with His still, small voice whispering in my ear, saying, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”

If we would try to put this into practice in our own marriages and families, we could change our world into something more beautiful, but we are still finding our way in this land of sojourning, but someday we will arrive, and until then let us run with perseverance this race set before us so that we might finish the course that the Lord has laid out for us, that He might say to us on that day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  Enter the rest of your Master.”