“…it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” 1 Corinthians 13:6
As we discover what this verse is telling us about love, I want to look at two other passages of scripture to help further explain what Paul was saying to the Corinthian church as well as believer’s today. At first glance I truly didn’t understand the depth of this description. I thought it meant someone who took joy in sin. And to an extent that is what it is speaking of, but Paul had a much deeper intent. We have all caught ourselves looking forward to justice being served, we have even taunted sayings like ‘What goes around comes around”, and we have even prayed prayers for God to avenge the wrongs we have endured. But is that the right type of attitude for believer’s to have? Where is the kindness in that? Where is the humility in that? Is that really coming from a heart of love? Paul tells us it doesn’t.
Let’s look at an Old Testament example of what this type of heart looks like and what God thinks of it…
“But do not gloat over the day of your brother in the day of his misfortune; do not rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; do not boast in the day of distress. Do not enter the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; do not gloat over his disaster in the day of his calamity; do not loot his wealth in the day of his calamity.” Obadiah 12-13
The book of Obadiah is a very short book, one chapter long. But the size of the book doesn’t effect it’s impact in the slightest. The message is very daunting and clear. The prophet Obadiah was given a vision of judgment from God on the Edomites. Edom was a smaller kingdom just south of Judah. When God pronounced judgment on Judah for their infidelity, the Edomites were graciously spared. As result they acted in prideful disdain on Judah. We are even given examples of how they helped their enemies by looting, scoffing, preventing refugees from escaping and even turning refugees over to the enemy. Although God’s people had turned their backs on Him, He never turned His on them. Although they were facing and enduring His wrath and discipline, they were not free game for others to destroy. The real problem with what the Edomites did was that they did it with a heart of pride. Their actions revealed what their hearts believed. They believed they were unconquerable. The fact that they missed the wrath their neighbors suffered, fooled them into believing they were untouchable. God proved them wrong. No one is ever outside God’s grasp, no matter how fortified your surroundings are.
The truth I want to pull from this example is the popular saying, “Therefore, but the grace of God go I.” This reminds us that when we look on others and see suffering, wrath, judgment or the like, we should be quick to remember we are all susceptible to face every instance. The prideful heart tells our minds that could never happen to us, but let me tell you, you never know how a situation will affect you until you have been there. I learned a long time ago that I don’t say never, unless it’s in the context of I’ll never know how I would respond until the day I have to. I’ve surprised myself many times in my life. Some of those surprises have been regrettable, and some of them admirable. But they have taught me nonetheless that I am not exempt from the things my prideful heart would like me to believe I am. This also brings me to my next example…
“Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Luke 7:44-47
This passage from Luke is staged in the Pharisee, Simon’s, home. Jesus was invited to have dinner with him one evening, and in came this woman who interrupts the meal to wash Jesus’ feet with very expensive oil and her tears and wiped with her hair. We see the contrast of the hypocritical slave to the law, or outward expression of it, with the humility of a sinner who is aware of her need for salvation. In the preceding verses, Simon sets himself up on a pedestal in comparison to this woman by pointing out her sinfulness as if he was exempt from sin and temptation. Like always, Jesus pointed to the heart of the matter- his inability to see his need for forgiveness. This Pharisee was fooled by his pride into believing his spiritual standing was fine. He was a Pharisee, he knew the letter of the law and followed it relentlessly. He would never partake in open sin like the woman before him. But that didn’t mean he didn’t sin. And we can fall into that trap too. We see others around us openly sinning or getting caught in sin and we look down our noses at them as if we are somehow any better. Or we are quick to write them off in our lives because we are better than that or make better decisions. Or we give up on them because we deem their inability to get it together as a hopeless cause.
What is that about? I don’t see God giving up on people. In fact, we are all still here aren’t we? Then that means we are enjoying the grace and patience of God because there is someone else He is waiting to restore. Jesus calls out that the real problem is Simon is blinded by his pride to the dire extent that he cannot see he is in desperate need of salvation. He is in great need of forgiveness, and his blindness is so severe that the One who is the author of our forgiveness was right in front of him eating dinner with him the whole time. He even ordained this demonstration of humility and forgiveness and worship to open the Pharisee’s eyes and it only left him all the more blind. That is what pride does, it blinds us to our needs. Our needs for forgiveness, humility, grace, and service. Paul calls it like it is, true love doesn’t rejoice at the wrong doing of others, instead it seeks for the truth. When we love others we seek to restore, encourage, uplift and strengthen others. We take a role of humility by placing their needs above our own, not using them in an arsenal of prideful disdain to magnify our own self-righteousness.
Lord, forgive me for the pride in my heart. You have loved me so deeply, that you have committed to wipe away my sins, as far as the east is from the west. Thank you for seeing past my sins to my need to be forgiven. Thank you for reminding me I have no place to judge another’s actions. Help me to have a heart to lead those around me that need the forgiveness only you can give to You. Help me to be a beacon of light in this dark world, instead of a white-washed tomb. Lord, continue to remind me of the great forgiveness I have been given so I am never tempted to believe as Simon did. Keep me at the foot of Your cross daily. In Your holy name I pray, Amen.
bearingwithlove 