. . . love thinks no evil

. . . love thinks no evil
(I Corinthians.13:5 - NKJ)

Nearly everyone is familiar with the great "love chapter", I Corinthians 13. We've heard it many times at wedding ceremonies, couple's conferences, preached from the pulpit on special occasions, and have read it on plaques and greeting cards in Christian bookstores.

The words become so familiar, that we almost seem to forget that these are words spoken by the Spirit of the Most High God. They are more than mere sentiment or a beautifully written poem. We forget that this chapter is God's instruction to believers about how to love one another; how to love as Christ loves the Church; how to love as Jesus loves.

Are we really being disobedient to the will of the Lord when we violate this teaching, or are we just so familiar with the words, that we overlook the true meaning of God's instruction and life application?

As the Lord began to reveal the importance of Chapter 13 in my life, my focus rested upon verse 5 . . . love thinks no evil. Four simple words presenting themselves to me as a life challenge.

The Lord's example to me was a simple one. My husband met a colleague for lunch. This meeting was in the center of town, at a very popular restaurant, the meeting time was 12:00 noon when the restaurant was filled with customers, the table that he chose to sit at was in the middle of the restaurant. I was aware of the lunch meeting; however, I was unable to attend.

Sometime during that lunch meeting, my husband was observed in the restaurant eating with his colleague (which happened to be a female) . . . the observer never approached my husband to greet him and to be introduced to the unknown woman, if he had, this would have satisfied his curiosity and any possible evil thinking would have been extinguished.

The lunch appointment was innocent enough to me, my husband, and his colleague, however, not so to the observer. It was obvious that the integrity of the meeting was in question as the observer passed the information along to a friend (what happened to verse 5 . . . love thinks no evil) who confronted my husband a few days later.

This incident caused me to evaluate my own thinking and obedience before the Lord. It brought up many questions . . . how many times had I misjudged a person's motive and/or behavior? How many times was my thinking in violation of 1 Corinthians 13:5, thinking evil of another brother or sister in Christ? How many times did I gossip about a person who was above reproach . . . "much damage can be done to a person's character with only a little suspicion"? As I continued to meditate on the Corinthians passage, I began to think about the man I meet every week for brunch.
I meet this man at a diner near the end of town, a sort of an out-of-the-way place, but conveniently located between both of our homes. We meet at an off time, when the restaurant is less crowded; we plan this around our working hours. We sit at a booth far from other customers so we can talk and laugh and share what's happened in our lives throughout the week. We greet each other with a kiss, and leave each other with a kiss as well. We are attentive to each other and the expression on our faces shows that we love each other and enjoy our time together. This man is only 18 years younger than myself (I have friends who have husbands the same age), he is someone whom I love spending time with. (Are you starting to get a little nervous . . . well read on!)

This wonderful, intelligent, handsome, blonde-haired, blue-eyed young man (have you guessed yet?) is none other than my beloved son, Jamie, a blessing I received from the Lord almost 35 years ago. How much purer can that be, but yet, the integrity of our mother-son brunches could be questioned by those who violate verse 5 "love thinks no evil". Just like my husband's situation, an observer could avoid greeting me and meeting my son. They could question my character and call their friend and pass that information on to them.

Some might say we are to avoid the appearance of evil, and that is true, we should not intentionally put ourselves in situations that can be easily misinterpreted. However, Titus 1:15 tells us "to the pure all things are pure . . ." are we then living obediently to God's Word when we slander others by thinking evil rather than good?

I say, we as Christians should step up to the plate and be obedient to the Lord. We should be obeying God's Word and love as He instructs us to love. God's Word is alive and it should be living through us, that my friend is the VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIFE.

I am practicing to "think no evil" and I'm learning to love the way Jesus loves. How about you?

Carole