I've found two excercizes that allow me to understand exactly what 1 Cor 13 is saying. Basically, this chapter can be used as a guideline to show us where our strengths and weaknesses are.
The first excercize, is to replace any instance of the word Love with the word God. You can do this, because in 1st John, it is stated that God is Love. When you do this, you see God's relationship to you--what God thinks, feels, and does for you.
Once you understand how God relates to you, then you can move in to understanding how you relate to others. After the first excercize, you then replace the word Love with your own name, and then see how many of the statements are true and how many are false. You take each true statement and put it in a column, then take each false statement and put it in a column, and that shows what you are doing well on, and what you need to work on in your life. This shows how well you treat others, and how well you treat others ultimately reflects on how well you treat God Himself.
"Ian is not rude" would be a true statement, because I am a polite person; therefore I do not need to work on my manners. "Ian is not arrogant" would be a false statement, because I can be very stubborn and proud about my own ways at times; therefore I do need to humble myself.
It works for me, and quite a number of people who I know. I hope it helps.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
Two things I have found helpful.
Date: 2004-04-14 11:10 am (UTC)The first excercize, is to replace any instance of the word Love with the word God. You can do this, because in 1st John, it is stated that God is Love. When you do this, you see God's relationship to you--what God thinks, feels, and does for you.
Once you understand how God relates to you, then you can move in to understanding how you relate to others. After the first excercize, you then replace the word Love with your own name, and then see how many of the statements are true and how many are false. You take each true statement and put it in a column, then take each false statement and put it in a column, and that shows what you are doing well on, and what you need to work on in your life. This shows how well you treat others, and how well you treat others ultimately reflects on how well you treat God Himself.
"Ian is not rude" would be a true statement, because I am a polite person; therefore I do not need to work on my manners. "Ian is not arrogant" would be a false statement, because I can be very stubborn and proud about my own ways at times; therefore I do need to humble myself.
It works for me, and quite a number of people who I know. I hope it helps.