The Love Chapter

In my personal time, I have been reading through the Corinthian letters. My last blog was derived from I Cor 12. Tonight I read from I Cor 13 for about the millionth time. Not really...that was hyperbole. I have read it alot and it is very meaningful. It is a very special verse that I used to have memorized thanks to a song by my favorite Christian rock band as a teenager, Petra, who wrote a song utilizing this chapter as the lyrics on their Beyond Belief album.

It will always have a special place in my heart as I know it is my wife's favorite passage. That page in her Bible seems to be a little more crinkled than all of the other pages. It was our (her) selection for a scripture reading at our wedding....probably thousands of other weddings, too.

As I read through it today, I thought about my role as a father with Father's Day coming up. Starting in verse 4, I decided to replace the word "love" with the words "a Godly father". I also substituted the word "it" with the word "he". So it goes something like this if you use the New International Version, "A Godly father is patient, a Godly father is kind, He does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. he is not rude, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered. He keeps no record of wrongs...etc..." You can read it for yourself.

God's word obviously shares that we shouldn't add or take away from what was inspired by the writers. That is not my intent. My intent is to personalize it for me and challenge my own life to be more loving.

From a basketball standpoint, I would argue that you could also replace "love" with "A good coach" or "a team player" or "a great manager", then replace it with "he" or "she" depending on the gender. I think if you stop and read it through it a couple of times while utilizing whatever role in your life you want to improve, it will inspire and motivate.

Blessings,

Coach

I Cor 13