As a student, I did pretty well in math—until I got to trigonometry! I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, so that was my last math class. I do remember a little bit of algebra, which might explain why I think of it when reading this verse: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud” (1 Corinthians 13:4, NLT).
There’s a formula here and it goes like this: God is love. Love is patient and kind. Therefore God is patient and kind. We usually think of the Love chapter as prescriptive, telling us how we should behave. But if we do the math, we see it as descriptive of the only One who truly is all the things listed in 1 Corinthians: “Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (NLT).”
As we yield to and are led by the Holy Spirit, he fills our hearts with his love (Romans 5:5), sharing who he is with us and we become more like him. Now that is some math I can get my head around!
Jesus - Son, Savior, God 