One of my favorite portions of Scripture comes from the great love chapter of the Bible – (1 Corinthians 13) where the Apostle Paul shares the many faceted aspects of true love. According to Paul: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
True Christian “agape” love is clearly, according to this definition, not of this world, and can only be practiced through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling a believer in Christ.
The one aspect of this list of what true Christian love is that has always stood out to me is the phrase, “it keeps no record of wrongs.” And one of the greatest demonstrations of Christian love can be seen at the crucifixion of Jesus when Christ uttered these amazing words: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing…” (Luke 23:34). While the Romans and Jews tormented, mocked, and crucified Jesus, our Savior prayed for forgiveness for these spiritually blinded individuals demonstrating the boundless compassion of divine grace. Rather than keep a record of wrongs against Him, Jesus demonstrated what true love is all about. And I believe this prayer may have proved instrumental in convicting many to repent of their wickedness and come to salvation at Pentecost.
For you see one of the most powerful testimonies of Christian love is to love your enemies and pray for them. Rather than keep a record of the wrongs committed against us we need to practice what we read in (Matthew 5:44) when Jesus says: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” In other words, love them supernaturally. And I believe when we do this not only will we experience great joy knowing that we are pleasing our Savior, but this manifestation of prayer and Christian love will often bring forth the convicting power of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who have hurt us.
As humans it is clearly not easy to love this way but remember we have the power and the ability to demonstrate this love because the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and the Spirit provides us with the supernatural ability to manifest this kind of love if we are willing to be totally obedient to the word of God. And while we may not, like God, be able to forget the wrongs that people often inflict on us, we don’t have to carry a list of them in our heads. In other words, true love forgives and moves forward not constantly thinking about how we were wronged.
My friends, demonstrating agape love is one of the most liberating things we can ever do. It frees us from spending worthless and harmful time on feelings of bitterness, hatred, and thoughts of revenge and instead allows us to pray for those who oftentimes don’t fully realize that they are doing the work of the enemy.
In closing, the one thing God refuses to do is summarized beautifully by author Max Lucado who shared: “And I will remember their sins no more.” Wow! Now, that is a remarkable promise. God doesn’t just forgive, he forgets … For all the things he does do, this is one thing he refuses to do. He refuses to keep a list of my wrongs.”1
1 Inspirational Quotes by Max Lucado – page 37 (bibleportal.com)