If God is love (1 John 4:16)...then…

God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

God never fails.

- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV)

Man alive, it’s hard to believe that I’m worthy of such an awesome God sometimes. Every single description strikes at the core of my being, because I am everything God is not. In my flesh, I refuse to think and act in love.

Instead, I am impatient, I am unkind; I envy, I boast, I’m proud. I’m rude, I’m self-seeking, I’m easily angered, I keep a long (and highly extensive) record of wrongs. I love to do evil and hate to speak the truth. I am cowardly, I am suspicious, I am easily discouraged, I am passive. I fail on a daily basis.

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)

So while there was nothing good in me, God has recreated me – in the process of being transformed into His very Image, because those characteristics of agape are inseparable from Him. Every day, I must die, in order that I may eventually reflect God’s qualities.