If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful. 1 Cor. 13:1-5 (ESV)
Dear heavenly Father, though there’s a lot more in this remarkable passage about love, but I chose to stop this morning with Paul’s couplet about love not being “irritable or resentful”—because I woke up with a measure of each vying for my day. I need your grace, even before the sun comes up. So I come to you—I run to you, thankful for your ready welcome, new mercies, and sufficient grace.
Father, I don’t want this to be a bad attitude day, and as tempting as it is to blame and make excuses for my low-grade irritability, I’m not gonna do it. I am canceling my plans for a pity party; and I relinquish my elder-brother attitude of condescension, entitlement, and judgment. Our feelings are to be taken seriously, but our feelings aren’t lord—that would be Jesus.
So, Father, by your grace, settle me, center me, and gentle me for the day. I am grateful for your steadfast love, inexhaustible patience, and perpetual kindness. I want to walk in your Spirit today, a whole lot more than I want to “cop an attitude” and leak irritation everywhere I go. May I forgive as you’ve forgive me; accept as you have accepted me in Christ; and encourage others, increasingly, as the great Day of Jesus’ return approaches. Once again, I trust you for thick skin and a big heart. Free me to love to your glory, all day long. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ great and grace-full name.
