It is not easily angered
– 1 Corinthians 13:5
It would be a mistake to frame love in a way that see’s it emotionally one dimensional. Love is not devoid of emotion, nor does it allow for its expression in only a single fashion. Love is not just romantic, but it is romantic. Love is not just kind, but it is kind. Love is not just capable of excitement, but it is exciting. Love is not just anger but it is capable of anger because love is also fierce.
Love defines the emotion, the emotion should not define the love.
This distinction is critical. Because while we are a people that believe wholeheartedly in the full spectrum of human emotions that God has put in us, those emotions should not own us. They should not be able to compel us into doing things that we know are not in our best interest, or in the cause of the Gospel. Nor should the presence of those emotions be a pre-requisite for us moving in love.
If we cannot operate without feeling it, we are lost. Any person that has been married for more than the shortest of durations will attest to this fact. In fact in any long term relationship (and many short term ones) there will be moments where we’re not feeling it. I think I can say with relative assurance that as Christ went to the cross he wasn’t feeling it. But he was committed to it despite his emotions, not because of them.
Church, let’s be a people that not just accepts and embraces emotion, but a people that let’s love define the emotion and not the other way round. Let’s be slow to anger, slow to speak and quick to hear. The world needs you.
Much Love
Stephen Hickson