怎样才是爱？
哥林多前书十三章4至13节
4爱是恒久忍耐，又有恩慈；爱是不嫉妒；爱是不自夸，不张狂，
5不做害羞的事，不求自己的益处，不轻易发怒，不计算人的恶，
6不喜欢不义，只喜欢真理；
7凡事包容，凡事相信，凡事盼望，凡事忍耐。
8爱是永不止息。先知讲道之能终必归于无有；说方言之能终必停止；知识也终必归于无有。
9我们现在所知道的有限，先知所讲的也有限，
10等那完全的来到，这有限的必归于无有了。
11我作孩子的时候，话语像孩子，心思像孩子，意念像孩子，既成了人，就把孩子的事丢弃了。
12我们如今仿佛对着镜子观看，糢糊不清（原文作：如同猜谜）；到那时就要面对面了。我如今所知道的有限，到那时就全知道，如同主知道我一样。
13如今常存的有信，有望，有爱这三样，其中最大的是爱。
信息分享
只要我们用「基督」的名字，来取代经文中的「爱」字，我们就见到基督的全面写照了。我们借此可引证一个事实，就是唯有当基督住在我们里面，我们才能活出保罗所讲的那种爱。
留意第4节：「爱是恒久忍耐」。这表示爱要求我们能忍耐别人。这绝不容易做到，尤其是当一个天生性急的人，刚巧碰着一慢吞吞的人。因此，「忍耐」就包含了以爱心去接纳别人的意思。
爱又是恩慈。我们可以对人有忍耐，却没有恩慈。忍耐有时可以表示袖手旁观，但恩慈却要求我们去主动帮助别人。恩慈的表现最能见证基督。
保罗还指出爱是不嫉妒，爱是乐于分享、不自夸、不求自己的益处、对人有礼貌、不坚持己见、不暴躁和不轻易动怒。最容易破坏家庭或教会和谐的罪，首推是暴躁和易发脾气的罪。我们必须将自己的脾气交给基督去掌管。
当别人得罪我们的时候，爱有神奇的医治力量，能使我们忘记所受的伤害。我们经常听到别人说：「我永远不会忘记某人对我的伤害」。一个被基督的爱所充满的人，是永远不会说这句话的，因为爱只有宽恕。
请细读这章经文，再三细味保罗形容爱的每个字词，然后检视自己的生命是否拥有这些素质。记着，只有基督才能将这种真爱带给你。
祷告：
「主啊，过去我不懂得去爱的人，求你今天帮助我懂得如何去爱他。」
WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE?
1 Corinthians 13:4-13
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;
6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Message
Place the name 'Christ' wherever Paul uses the word love and you will see this picture of Christ. This will bring home to you the fact that you will only be able to show the kind of love Paul talks about here as Christ lives out his life in you and through you. (In some older versions of the Bible you will find 'charity' instead of 'love'. 'Charity' is an old English word for 'love'.) Notice verse 4. Love is patient. This means love is patient with people. It isn't always easy, especially if you are quick by nature and others around you are slow. We could say, being patient is lovingly putting up with others who are disagreeable.
Love is kind. You can be patient yet not be kind. Patience may sit doing nothing while kindness is active helping someone. Kindness is a wonderful witness for Christ.
Paul adds that love is not jealous. Love is happy to share. It is not boastful. It does not want to draw attention to itself. Love has good manners and does not insist on its own way. Love is not irritable; it is not quick-tempered. There is no sin that can so quickly destroy harmony in a home or in a church as the sin of quick temper, which has never been brought under the control of Christ.
Love has an amazing power to forget when it has been wronged. Often people say, 'I'll never forget what they have done to me'. Love never says that. Love forgives.
Go carefully through this chapter and look at each word Paul uses concerning love. Then ask if that quality is present in your own heart and life. Remember Christ is the one who alone can bring about that kind of love in you.
A PRAYER:
'Lord, help me to love someone today whom I have never loved before.'