1 Cor 13:5-7 Love is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily provoked or resentful. It doesn’t celebrate injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, endures all things.
There is a word that every athlete, musician, and artist know well: practice. Practice turns something that is initially awkward and foreign into a honed skill. The more one practices something, the more the skill is mastered. Paul presented the above framework of life skills to the Christians in Corinth. They were obviously novices in the art of acting and reacting out of love. They needed practice.
Interacting with others in a society that is divided and caustic can expose our weaknesses. It becomes more obvious to us that we are either easily provoked or that we can endure harshness. This environment of negative reactions also gives us the great opportunity to practice these behaviors of love, but we must first decide to do it.
When I read this partial description of the behavior of love, I see that I need more practice. If you have also not yet mastered these skills, then ask the Holy Spirit to help you find a strategy for growth. Write down these few words from Corinthians 13. Think about them in practical terms, and focus on an approach to make changes. We need the power of the Spirit to be transformed in us, but we also need to utilize that special word that requires focused work: practice!