Love Is
If you have been a believer in Christ for any length of time, you probably know the verses Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 about what love is quite well. Today, we will look at how living out certain parts of those verses can translate in our finances.
Love endures long
When you're facing the temptation to plunge into debt right now for something, instead of waiting until you have the funds or waiting for the proper timing God is showing you - this requires longer-term endurance and faith in Him, what His word says and remembering what He spoke to you. We can be encouraged to wait by remembering that He who spoke this loves us dearly, knows what is the best for us and wants that for us.
Love is patient
Similar to the character above, but this can be more directed to the near-term, having patience to put off that purchase until the next paycheck, to not move forward until you've explored all options - like a different model, seller, or to consider a pre-owned item. By waiting when you sense God is showing you to do so may open a different door you had not expected, but He knew all along.
Love is kind
The root word of kind relates to showing oneself useful and to act benevolently. We can carry this out in being sensitive to needs we see and giving towards those needs, especially to those in poverty. To get deeper into this, I encourage you to click on the Archives section to the right of this page and go to the November 2021 post titled "Giving Is Living"
Love never is envious or boils over with jealousy
Simply stated, one of the worst things we can do is to view someone else's belongings and foster envy for them and be jealous. The first "victim" in this mindset is that is wipes out our gratitude to the Lord for what He has provided us - I feel our thankfulness to the Lord is one of the most precious things to protect. The envy then drives our hearts towards these things and erodes our heart for the things of the Lord.
Love is not boastful and does not display itself haughtily
In Psalm 62:10 it is written "if riches increase, set not your heart on them". Remembering that the Lord is our source will anchor our hearts and help keep us from yielding to the fleshly desire to act boastful, with pride and arrogance trying to impress others with material things. Going back to the earlier action of giving to others (not to be seen), it is the opposite of being prideful, for it is yielding to God's will.
Love does not insist on its own rights or its own way
In the marriage relationship regarding finances, sometimes one spouse will have a greater appetite for spending, while the other wants to pay down debts and save. While we need to be open to the needs of our spouse for certain things and not insist on our own way, the household's overall direction should be to follow God's word and seek to keep out of debt and owe no one anything as it is written in Romans 13:8. If both spouses will yield to this principle in unity, God's blessings will follow after them.
Love bears up under anything and everything that comes
Whether the "thing" that comes is a job loss, a sudden expensive event out of the blue, or a lack of foresight that resulted in sizeable debt. Whether together in marriage or single, our focus is to cling to the Lord (and if married, cling closer to each other in unity during this season). We're given the instruction for how to proceed in Philippians 4:8 - "Be anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." Staying connected with God during this time with strengthen you to bear up through it.
Go to the top of the post and look at the picture of the heart garland which has some of the characteristics of love written on them. Consider how they are connected together, and that as we yield to live out those ways of love we are then more closely connected together with God, who wrote them.
Lastly, be encouraged by the two verses below, that although they are from different books and authors, I feel they tie together nicely in their order, giving us the direction to go:
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12)
Do everything in love. (1 Corinthians 16:14)
God Bless you and may He show Himself greatly too you,
Paul
