LOVE’S TABOOS

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? – 1 John 4:20

The Bible’s Love Chapter – 1 Corinthians 13 – is so beautiful and poetic, that we tend to flip over to it in isolation of its not-so-positive context! This rich reflection on love lies in the middle of teachings about spiritual gifts. The thrust of the message is that while specific spiritual gifts are given to certain people, love is given to and expected of all of us.

We need to understand this wonderful gift which God has given to us, and how we are to treat others and be treated in return. The thirteen-versed chapter is more like an ideal inspection checklist by which we can evaluate our lives – this is what God wants us to be like and what He wants to help us become like.

In life, we learn from both positives and negatives. Here, let’s aggregate, recollect, focus and reflect on what love is not or does not do – Love’s taboos! Eight of such are found in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-6.

- Love does not envy
- Love does not parade itself
- Love is not puffed up
- Love does not behave rudely, unbecomingly, ill-mannered or offensive in attitude and action.
- Love does not seek its own; it is not selfish, or self-centred but selfless and sacrificial.
- Love is not provoked
- Love thinks no evil
- Love does not rejoice in iniquity

We could go through this treatise on love and substitute the word ‘love’ with the name of Jesus: Jesus doesn’t envy, Jesus doesn’t parade Himself, is not puffed up, and doesn’t behave rudely. These are Jesus’ taboos! The real test is to substitute your name for the word ‘love.’ Are these also your taboos?