Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5aLove is patient
The fact that we are all still here and not consumed by God’s holiness and wrath, proves that God is patient. None of us deserve to be here because we have all rebelled against our Creator – the very One we owe our lives to. BUT God is patient, so we are not consumed. He puts up with our sinfulness (1 Peter 3:20; Romans 9:22) so that He may reveal the “immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness to us who believe” (Ephesians 2:7). Jesus Christ longs for us to know Him and give Him glory and He longs to be gracious to us (Isaiah 30:18). The Apostle Peter says that the Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promises but is patient toward us because He does not want any of us to perish without repenting (2 Peter 3:9; also cf. 1 Timothy 1:16). We should count God’s patience as salvation (2 Peter 3:15; also cf. Romans 2:4).
Love is kind
This characteristic coincides with the previous. The Lord Jesus is incredibly kind in that He is patient toward us and chooses to save us (because He doesn’t have to; see Romans 11:22). BUT He goes beyond just not giving us what were deserve (showing us mercy) by giving us what we do not deserve (showing us grace). The Apostle Paul put it this way, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but because of His own mercy” (Titus 3:4-5). So, one way we see God’s kindness is by His forgiving us through Christ (Ephesians 4:32). He saves us from death and gives us eternal life…with Him (1 John 3:2)! God’s kindness is more than just doing us a favor, it is giving us all we will ever need in Christ (see Ephesians 2:7 quoted above). Again, God’s kindness is meant to lead us to salvation (Romans 2:4)
Love does not envy
According to the dictionary, envy means “to feel discontent or covetousness with regard to another’s advantages; to be resentful or unhappy because someone else possesses what one wishes oneself to possess.” Now, this could never be true of God because if it was, it would mean He is lacking something. God, however, is an all-sufficient being. He needs nothing. The Apostle Paul says that “The God who made the whole world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:24-25). God is perfectly content because He is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Since He is perfect, He wants to give us the best thing possible – Himself. His giving of Himself means our salvation (see Exodus 6:7).
Love does not boast
To boast is to speak with exaggeration and excessive pride about oneself. This characteristic was probably the most difficult to fit into the logical equation above because if God is perfect (and He is), then is it even possible for Him to exaggerate? Everything that is good and right and true finds its perfection in Him. All of His attributes are perfect, so it is impossible to speak with exaggeration about them. Nevertheless, the Bible tells us that Christ is humble, meek and gentle (2 Corinthians 10:1), which is the opposite of boasting. He does not force Himself on us or constantly display His power and greatness in miraculous ways. He instead pursues us gently and speaks quietly to our hearts (Matthew 11:28-29). Instead of requiring us to make a way to Him, He made the way for us by leaving His throne in Heaven and becoming a man (Philippians 2:5-8) so that He might secure our salvation through His life, death and resurrection (Galatians 4:4-5).
Love is not arrogant
Like boasting, arrogance is having an exaggerated opinion of one’s self or abilities. The same argument from above applies. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9; cf. Romans 15:3, Philippians 2:5-8). For “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for man” (Matthew 20:28), thereby accomplishing our salvation.
Love is not rude
To be rude is to be impolite, rough in nature/behavior/manners, harsh, ungentle, and violent. It is the opposite of kind. The Lord Jesus is most definitely not rude. I already mentioned how He gently pursues us. He Himself testified to His gentleness when He said, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). King David says that God’s gentleness makes us great because He gives us the shield of His salvation to rescue us from danger and protect us from the enemy (2 Samuel 22:36; Psalm 18:35). Through Him we are victorious over sin, death and anything that life may through against us (Romans 8:31-37). His gentleness, therefore, contributes to our salvation.
Side note: Love, patience and kindness are all fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) that He works in believers to show that they belong to Christ and to point others toward Christ.
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