“Does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth” is the next quality of love. (I suppose we could separate this into two, bust like boasting and arrogance, they seem to form a unit.)
Love is not just serving, and being gentle and ice. It there is a parent, who feeds his children only candy and coke, the would be some truth the assertion that this parent does not love his children. The children may be happy and enjoying life, but we all know a strict diet of candy and coke is not good for anybody. To grow and be healthy, a person needs protein, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.
We have discussed “fuels” here in the past. Like the body, the human spirit needs a diet of certain things, like: love, beauty, peace and security. And the primary spirit fuel is a relationship with God and Jesus. (Remember the example of a water/gas mixture in a car.) So, sometimes love needs an edge. Sometimes love needs to challenge someone to change what their heart is focused on, and establish a new allegiance with the Father and with Jesus. I am not saying we should behave like totals jerks when we are doing it. But it is a serious and important thing, and we need to treat it as such.
And this will definitely set Jesus followers apart, because it is a time when people are claiming there are multiple truths to live by, and we ought to let people do so. And while I believe that there is not just one way to follow Jesus, there is only one Jesus … and everyone’s heart ought to be focused in allegiance to him.
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