Love’s Attributes
Love’s Attributes (1)
(#155 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Love is Patient!” (1 Corinthians 13:4)
Love is patient, and therefore, Yahweh is patient!
In its purest understanding, from its Hebraic perspective, patience means to defer, to draw out. And so we conclude that love—waits! This waiting is not only to delay any chastening that may well be due, but also defers blessing that has its perfect time and place.
Love has a total of sixteen attributes, which make up its complete structure. And, with Hebraic understanding, sixteen is seven (16=1+6=7) and seven is “completion.” So, we learn that love’s sixteen attributes reveal love’s total story, love’s completion.
As we seek to perfect this love within, we must lay a foundation that cannot be corrupted, and that is, if we fail at any one of the sixteen attributes we have not succeeded in love. The success itself is a gift of the Spirit placed within. But, what would the “self” do to destroy such an object of beauty and mystique? It would make love “common” by so easily throwing around words like, “I love you,” with such ease, ease and ultimately contempt. It reminds me of Shaul’s words to Timothy, “But they have no understanding either of the words and terms they use or of the subjects about which they make [such] dogmatic assertions.” (1 Timothy 1:7) The wise one, however, knows such things saying, “Though Yahweh is love, and His love has been placed in me, as a gift for me to offer to others, I am yet very aware of my own personal ego that seeks to water down this concept of perfect love.” The humble mind does not fail at any one of the sixteen attributes.
And so today, we set the standard that love is patient. It allows things to happen, and often “covers a multitude of sins” (Proverbs 10:12) in order to bring about the greater good. It trusts Yahweh when He says, “No one will escape making a mockery of Me; I see everything!”
I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]. (John 13:34-35)