Love = Respect Part 3

This is the third post in a series on 1 Corinthians 13. If you would like to see more posts from this series, please click here. 

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

“I didn’t talk to my husband for a week once.”

“Really, a whole week?”

“Yeah, I didn’t have anything nice to say so I just didn’t say anything.”

Love is kind. 

I think one of the hardest things we all deal with is the silence aspect of the respect journey. We all have reasons for choosing silence, but I think it can be summed up in a simple expression that we teach our children:

If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. 

How often do we justify our quick and emotional words? How often do we speak before thinking, saying something hurtful? How often do we wish we could take something back that we said but it’s already out there?

Love is kind.

Being silent or quiet to prevent saying something hurtful isn’t about a freeze-out. It’s not saying NOTHING. It’s choosing to maybe only answer questions, maybe only ask questions, maybe only small talk – but to acknowledge to yourself that you need time to think about what you want to communicate.

This has to be one of the best quotes on the subject:

The only difference is that our Dad IS here. He’s everywhere we are. And He’s drawing our hearts to please Him in our marriages instead of our spouses.

Love is kind.

Dare you today to think of more ways that love is kind. Make a list. And keep it somewhere to remind yourself to be kind in your interactions.

Would you share your list with us?