Divine Characteristics of Love (Part 2)

Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealous when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. 5 Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritated or quick to take offense. 1 Corinthians 13.4-5

In our last post, we mentioned two characteristics of love. The reference verses were 1 Corinthians 13 from verse 4. For the so many worldly standards and definition of love, it is time to correct and reshapen our mentality with what God says love is. Love is not lust, love is not temporary. Love is not just a mushy feeling, or an emotion that overwhelms people. It is an intentional commitment to choose someone over and over again, not just by words, by by actions backed up with intentionality and effort.

Love is Kind to All (1 Corinthians 13.4)

I love how the Passion Translation put the conditions of love being kind. It says 'consistently'. Love is kind to ALL. Not some, nor a few. Not sometimes, or when you feel like. It says consistently kind to all. Consistentcy is simply showing up every time to do a particular thing. Being consistent with love simply means loving every day. Not on some days, or when you feel like. Obviously, there will be days when people will annoy you. Not just the people you love, but people you don't seem to even care about.

Firstly, understand that loving everyone and being kind to all is not an option for Christians. It is a commandemnt, to love one another just as Christ loves you. Whether you are a Christian or not, even as a Christian, whether you are on fire for God or not, there are certain things you have done that did make God angry. Whatever you have done, are doing, or will still do did not ever make God angry with you. Don't use anger as an excuse to stop loving people or being nice to them. Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. If you know God, you should know love and be love. Love everyone, be gentle with all. Kindness should be a mushy emotion you get to have or decide to do it in particular times. Kindness is an act, and you should be kind always, ain't no questioning. It doesn't matter if those people have been kind to you. You should be kind to them, irregardless.

Love gives no room for Jealousy:

There is no space for unhealthy competition in love. Love gives no room for jealousy, in friendships, relationships, marriages, or work spaces. Wherever we are, we are to extend love to everyone around us, and real love, genuine love, carries no jealousy. It is not two-faced, sweet in your face and bitter in your back. It is genuine. Love does not envy. Love does not get angry about another's promotion or improvements or happy moments over theirs. Love is okay with being the second person. Love does not spread hate. It gives room for more love to thrive, grow and spread. Jealousy spreads hate, and love and hate cannot thrive in one space. Love repels every hate, jealousy attracts hate. Love gives room for others to grow. Love helps others to grow.

In the society today, we hear things like 'women empowerment', 'queens supporting queens'. Those are good agenda, I mean, in a world where for the longest time, women have been undervalued. Creating awareness like this and starting movements to uplift women all over the world is a great idea, something to pave ways for more positive things to happen. But are women really supporting women? Or is it just a facade to hide the fact that women are women's enemies most of the time, not even the men. We hear, experience, and read of tales where some ladies set up their fellow ladies to be abused or mistreated. Some ladies lay ambush for particular ladies because "she's been feeling herself too much lately", "she thinks she's the only one that can get all the good things of life", "she always feels like she deserves the best", "I've never seen any bad thing happen to her. This one serves her right", "she needs to learn that the world doesn't revolve around her". In corporate organizations, female bosses are known to be more wicked than their male counterparts. Such actions of women can be traced to low self-esteem, insecurites, and the feeling of not being enough because of being constantly and consistently put down even after fighting and working hard to get what they deserve. Hearing stories like this make me question the whole essence of the women empowerment movement, as well as feminism, because it feels like we are pointing fingers to every other external factor that needs to be addressed without holding women accountable for their actions and shortcomings, because sometimes, the real enemy is not who we think, but the person we see when we look into the mirror.

In high schools and colleges, jealousy is so profound amongst ladies. We see ladies going an extra mile to hurt another lady all because of a boy. If men were truly the problems in this retrospect, should we be fighting each other because of our own jealousy? Women empowerment should come with love. Women loving other women, queens, helping their fellow queens fix their crowns without telling others it was ruined. My prayer for every women empowerment, Let Love Lead because when it does, there will be more uplifting stories from women to women, than stories of women being celebrated only when they are at the top. Love does not disrespect. Love does not put people down to lift itself up. Growth thrives where love thrives. Love does not seek to shame others or make them feel less than their worth.

Love is Quick to Forgive:

Love counts no faults and is quick to forgive. Love derives no pleasure in keeping scores of wrong. It is not easily irritated. Love is not resentful. Learn to forgive people, to not hold or bear grudges against people. Love cancels all debts.