1 Corinthians 13:5 Love does not behave unseemly

As I looked over the various translations I discovered they were all correct, even though different. How do you expect agape love to act? If you broke those expectations down to one negative reflection of expectation, then love is not what you expect. Expectation defines our view of what is most important to our understanding. Translating this verse into any adverb puts a pin hole in the box where you have placed God.

Take the first aspect of God, God is love. Reverse it, love is God. God is unchanging, love is unchanging. Agape love will always be agape love and nothing else. Unseemly is the direct opposite of glory. God’s glory is His reputation, His appearance, how He presents Himself to us, especially in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. Unseemly means that it doesn’t look like Jesus.

There is a long list of adverbs describing how Jesus Christ acts. Which adverb is appropriate is reflected in the moment as He will always be appropriate in the moment. His love will be appropriate and consistent with who He is and how he loves.

If there is any comparative between agape love and how we act, it would fall into that category, consistency. I can be agape love in any moment, but am I in every moment? Try as I might, the answer is no. Knowing that should not stop me from growing and learning.

1 Timothy 1:5 (NASB) But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

It takes all three to successfully reflect the abiding love of God.