Posts Tagged: love is a verb
“The Helpfulness of Love”
“1Cor. 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (English Standard Version)
What is love, anyway? Sorry to ask such a simple question, but I really would like to know. Hey, what can I say? I’m a beginner!
According to the Lexicon of the New Testament, the word used for second characteristic of real love is part of a configuration of related words (“χρηστεύομαι, χρηστός, χρηστότης, chresteuomai, chrestos, and chrestotes”) that can be translated with a variety of English words: “to be good, kind, benevolent;, useful, serviceable, good, benevolent, favorable; usefulness, good quality, goodness”
The word is often translated “kind” in English translations. However, I was especially struck by the word “useful” as one of the nuances of the Greek word. Love is useful! Huh!
Furthermore, this word is a verb, an action word. Usefulness is not a quality. It is something we do. Indeed, all the “qualities” of love that are listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 are verbs. And love itself in the New Testament is often a verb. I suspect that this tallies with much in our own experience.
One more nitty-gritty grammatical item: The verb for “being useful” is in the present tense. In Greek, the present tense suggests ongoing, repetitive action. According to Paul, usefulness isn’t spasm or a sprint. It is being useful over the long haul. Real usefulness is a marathon.
When I think of my mom, I think of the word “love”, but I also think of the word “useful”. Mom served. She served me, dad, my brothers and sister, neighbors, people she liked, and the very few people she didn’t like.
I think of my wife, and I think of the words “love” and “usefulness”. She serves me and anybody else who needs serving, and will allow her to do so. As I write this post, she is serving her mom who is confined to a bed and is not always easy to serve.
So, my affirmation for today is as follows: “Today, by God’s grace, I am serving at least three other people in some small way. I am also gratefully receiving all the blessings that God and other people have for me.”
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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