Is It Loving?

“[Love] is not rude.”
I Corinthians 13:5 NIV


When defining what love is not, Paul put rudeness on the list. “It is not rude.” The Greek word for rude means shameful or disgraceful behavior.

An example of rudeness was recently taken before the courts in Minnesota. A man fell out of his canoe and lost his temper. Though the river was lined with vacationing families, he polluted the air with obscenities. Some of those families sued him. He said, “I have my rights.”

God calls us to a higher, more noble concern. Not “What are my rights?” but “What is loving?”

Do you have the right to dominate a conversation? Yes, but is it loving to do so?…

Is it within your rights to bark orders at the clerk or snap at the kids? Yes. But is it loving to act this way?


From: Max Lucado