Opposites

Read I Corinthians 13

I was watching a Leap Frog video a while back (no, I have not gone back to elementary school) with my son. There were letters and sounds that those letters make along with the concept of picking out things that don’t fit with the rest of the list and things of that nature. We came upon something that was called opposites. The opposite of dark is light. The opposite of up is down. Do you get the picture? Oh, I have one more for you, the opposite of God is? Did you say the devil? If you did, you’re wrong. There is no opposite of God. God does not have an opposite, He is all in all. Just thought I’d throw that in for free. Back to our devotion Paul uses to opposite approach to reveal what love, and thus, God is. He strings eight things together that love does not do. We can see what love is by carving away what it is not – and when we find ourselves acting in these ways we know we are not acting in love.
The first thing Paul says love does not do is envy. It comes from the word “to boil.” It’s kind of the bolstered idea of “what’s in it for me,” in the sense of “it’s all about me.” When we become so self focused that anything anyone else has that we don’t have makes our blood boil and is the opposite of wanting to benefit another. Envy is when we only want to benefit ourselves at the expense of others.
According to Paul love does not boast. Boasting is really a corollary of envy – “if you’ve got it flaunt it – even if you don’t have it, pretend like you do.” The Greek word has the connotation of “play the braggart.” Oftentimes boasting is playing a part, or acting – something we are not but want to be or think we are. Boasting goes hand in hand with the next thing that love does not do. Love is not proud. This is the same word Paul uses in chapter 8 – “knowledge puffs up.” It means to inflate – like a bag of hot air – no substance but a lot of fluff. It’s increasing your sense of self importance well beyond your hat size.
Love is not rude. The word here is “unshapely.” You could say “not pretty to look at.” Do people have a hard time being around you because you do things that are unpredictable or embarrassing or unbecoming? That’s rudeness. It does not just mean crass. It is rude do act in ways that causes embarrassment to others. Time and again in scripture we are admonished to act soberly or self-controlled. Rudeness breeds the next thing that love is not. Love is not self-seeking. This could be rendered “worship you.” How many times have you been around someone that thinks they have all the answers and everything revolves around them? That is self worship. It also carries with it the aspect of not being teachable. Tied to this concept is the concept of love not being easily angered. It means to “exasperate.” The Greek word can translate “to sharpen alongside.” This is really the opposite of patience.
Love also does not keep record of wrongs - The suggestion from the original here is thinking poorly of someone else – or really pondering and dwelling on someone else as evil. The old story goes that Santa Claus keeps a list of who is naughty and who is nice. Sometimes we keep those lists too. How quick are you to forgive? Love does not delight in evil. This means to be happy when an injustice or wrong occurs. In a sense this is the ultimate form of “anti-love.” We want, we get, we hurt others to get it – and we’re happy that we stomped over them to get what we really deserve in the first place.
It is important to note that all these things that love does not do focus on us – what we want, who we are, how bad everyone is in comparison to us, what bad things people are always trying to do us – me, me, me! This is the opposite of love. Has the Lord convicted you today through His word about your love? Find a place to contact Him and allow His love to wash over you so that your love will reach out to someone else.

“Do all things with love.”
- Og Mandino