Encouragement for Your Week: February 1-7
This Week’s Verse
Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth.
— 1 Corinthians 13:6 (ERV)
Devotion
For a Christian, love isn’t just an emotion; it is the core of our identity. Our lives are meant to be defined by it. When Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment, He didn’t point to a complex ritual or a specific prohibition. Instead, He simplified everything: Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. He explained that every other law and prophetic teaching in Scripture stems from these two principles (Matthew 22:37-40).
In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul takes on the challenge of "fleshing out" what this love actually looks like in practice. Since love is the foundation for every moral principle in the Bible, defining it is a massive undertaking. Paul approaches this by listing specific characteristics of love, and today’s verse highlights two vital traits.
1. Love Rejects Injustice
First, love is never happy when people do wrong. Put simply: love hates injustice. We all know the sting of being treated unfairly; it’s painful and demoralizing. A person motivated by the love of God cannot simply ignore the mistreatment of others. While we can’t fix every problem in the world, love compels us to act where we can. This might mean speaking up for someone, reporting a wrong, or helping to fix a broken situation. We are called to the "ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:18), which means we work to make things right.
2. Love Celebrates the Truth
Second, love always finds joy in the truth. Love celebrates when justice prevails and honesty wins. We live in a society where deception often masks unfairness, and it can be easy to become cynical. However, when a lie is exposed or a wrong is corrected, people of love don't just notice—they rejoice. Love actively seeks to bring the truth to light and stands firmly behind what is right.
Living a life of love means pursuing righteousness and justice, which is deeply pleasing to God. As we align our hearts with His truth, we find peace in His promise: The Lord blesses the righteous and surrounds them with His favor (Psalm 5:12). This week, pursue righteousness.