Focus on the Source!

Love is patient; love is kind.”

1 Corinthians 13:4

We know those words. We hear them at weddings. We print them on cards. We hang them on walls. But Paul is not giving us a poem for special days. He is showing us what the life of Jesus looks like when the Holy Spirit is free to work in us.

Real love cannot be manufactured. We cannot wake up and say, “Today I will force myself to be patient. Today I will make myself kind. Today I will believe all things and hope all things.” We may try for a while. We may even do pretty well until someone cuts us off, criticizes us, disappoints us, or needs more from us than we planned to give. Then the truth comes out. Human love has limits. God’s love has a spring.

That spring is not found deep inside our natural hearts. On our own, we are often tired, selfish, proud, and easily offended. But Paul says, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:5). Poured. Not squeezed. Not forced. Not faked. Poured.

That means the love of God is not something we invent. It is something we receive. Then, by grace, it begins to flow through us.

Most of the time, we do not notice it as it happens. We simply stay with someone longer than we planned. We forgive when we could have kept score. We speak gently when harsh words would have been easier. We help without needing applause. Later, we look back and wonder, “Why did I do that?” The answer is simple and holy: Christ was loving through us.

That is the beauty of Spirit-born love. It is not staged. It is not proud of itself. It does not stop to admire its own kindness. It just moves, like water from a hidden spring.

So do not spend today trying to prove to God how much you love Him. Open your heart to the God who first loved you. Stay near Jesus. Let His Spirit have His way. The spring is in Him. And when the spring is in Him, love will flow.

Have a great week!

-Pastor Corey