“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” – 1 Corinthians 13:6
We are all made in the image and likeness of our God but since sin entered the world, it has defiled God’s creation and has made us sinful. We are very sinful and we are very distorted to the point that even love which is pure and real has also been distorted. Again, we always have the wrong mindset of love. Since we are sinful and our nature will always want to delight in wickedness, it would be so hard for us to understand the right concept of love. It is very hard for us to show love to others in the right way for all we know is an evil and sinful kind of love.
As we can read, our verse today is a continuation of the series of reflection about 1 Corinthians 13— the definitions of love. Again, it is hard for us to understand and grasp the right way to love because love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. So, given that we are sinful and imputed by sin, all we could do is sin. Thus, we can never achieve that for by nature we delight in evil ways. We always crave for the things that God has told us not to do and we always delight in doing things that are contrary to what God commands us to do.
We are distorted, defiled and dirty people. We are imputed with sin and everything we do, sin is connected with it. Everything we do, we are succumbing into the pit of sin and death. For as what the Bible says, sin entangles so easily and thus, it just means that one sin can lead us into another sin. One disobedience can lead us into sin. Now, how can we love right for love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth if all we know by nature is to lie, sin and delight in evil? Then, before we can fulfill what is in that verse, we have first to be renewed and to be born again. We have to know Christ and understand that love flows from Him.
We have to be able to have the power to say no to sin and the power to not delight in evil. The only way to do that is first to let Christ rule your life. It is by the power of Christ, through His death and resurrection we will become new persons. Through Him only we will be given new nature that rejoices with the truth and that delights with holiness. Once we have Christ in our lives, once we accept Him not just our Savior but also our Lord, we will be able to flee from evil. For the power to fight against sin and death comes only from Him. He has defeated sin and death and has made us victors of Him. Therefore, only through Christ we can be able to love right.
So, if we are already able to love right, we will then understand that love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth. What does this mean? This means that love is not what we think it is. It is not what the world taught us. Love does not delight in evil, it does not delight in lies, in sexual immorality or anything that will bring us to sin. Many have thought of the popular phrase, “Us against the world”. Well, love is not like that. Love does not delight in evil nor it delights in disobedience. It is not just you and your partner against the world. That is not love, but love is all about truth however hard it may seem. It is rejoicing in truth and having truth to be the foundation of it. Also, if your love is bounded with truth, it will be so easy to live in-sync with Christ for He is the Truth. Therefore, love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth— with Jesus Christ.
May we always remember this definition of love and may we always be guided by this truth. Let us always remember that love is indeed truthful and it does not delight in evil. It does not delight in sin but it seeks to follow truth and to obey God. It intends to do what God has willed us to do and it seeks to follow His commandments. Love pursues holiness and purity.
