1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 Charity suffereth long, and is kind…. [King James translation]
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres.
[New International translation]
Summary
1 Corinthians 13 is part of the epistles (i.e. a letters) to the church in Corinth. The Apostle Paul went to Corinth on one of his missionary journey. It was one of his “stops.” Acts 18:1 notes that Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, where he met a number of people (a Jew named Aquila and his wife Priscilla) and where Paul spoke at the synagogue regularly.
As a guide to the early Christian churches, Paul engages in a number of discourses on topics. Many refer to 1Corinthians 13 as Paul’s discourse on “love.” However, if you were to ask many born prior to 1960, they probably remember 1 Corinthian as a discourse on “charity,” because the King James translation uses the word “charity” while many modern translations of this scripture use the word “love.”
Whether you think of 1 Corinthians as the scripture on “love” or “charity,” it is probably no mistake that the writers, who Paul identifies in 1 Corinthians 1:1 as himself and Sosthenese,1 begin the discourse with “Charity [or Love] is patient.”
If you think about CHRIST “giving” HIS life for humanity, despite all of humanity’s continued imperfections, and that HE did this out of love for me and you, it is perhaps easier, to see the connection between “giving” (charity), and love and patience. Despite humanity’s failure to “do the right thing” over and over again, right up to the present, CHRIST still gave HIS life. GOD showed an extraordinary amount of patience on the cross for us, while we were yet sinners, in suffering and dying for us on the cross. HIS was a long suffering.
CHRIST’s love was love “in action.” HE gave. HE healed. HE interacted with people. Often when the disciples or others were trying to rush HIM--- keep HIM from taking time to talk with a woman no one else would have talked with,2 or keep HIM from spending time with children,3 or dealing with people outside his borders,4 or spending time with someone everyone else rejected, JESUS stopped and interacted with them anyway.5 CHRIST took time to be with people, minister to them, acknowledge them and love them. HE gave of himself, HE was patient, kind, not easily angered, not self-seeking.
JESUS’ love was action, time, giving, caring and sacrifice. HIS giving of HIMSELF was love.
WHY THE RUSH—EAT SLOWLY
Eating slowly is good for you. People who eat slowly tend to eat less. In a North America obesity study, it was found that overweight men and women who slowed their normal eating patterns tended to eat less. A comparable Japanese study involving 1700 young women also concluded that eating more slowly resulted in feeling fuller sooner and eating fewer calories. See, “Slow Down, You Eat Too Fast, Eat Less and enjoy it more with mindful eating,” by Kathleen M. Zelman, MPH, RD, LD, www.webmd.com.
Research shows that it takes about 20 minutes from the time a person starts to eat for the brain to send out a signal of fullness. When people eat leisurely or slowly (mindful of what they taste, the texture of food, chew slowly, etc.) the brain has time to send out the signal of fullness, so they eat less. But when people eat fast, they take in too many calories before the brain has time to register and send the signal that they are full.
Eating too fast can also trigger gas and bloating because of poor digestion. Eating too fast can cause a person to take in more air as they eat. The size of the food may be larger because there is insufficient chewing. This can often occur then people are rushing through a meal, resulting in poor digestion. When food is not chewed thoroughly, there is often less salvia. Saliva contains enzymes which help to break the food down.
Drinking a small amount of water or drinking a healthy herbal tea during a meal may be helpful to digestion but drinking a soda or a large sugared drink will only likely impair digestion, resulting in a bloated feeling or gas. Sugared drinks can also cause insulin levels to increase and increase the chances of storing more body fat. Poorly digested food can also cause constipation.
Some tips for slowing down and eating more slowly include the following:
- Focus on the food. Don’t try to multitask or do anything else while you are eating. Don’t watch TV, read, do crossword puzzles, read or do other tasks while you are eating.
- Try to avoid distractions while you eat. Move away from the computer. Leave your phone in another room. Turn off your laptop or the TV. Try to appreciate what is on your plate. Look at your food. Smell your food. Remember, try to focus on the food, not your next task after you eat.
- Get a drink of water (or a cup of tea) before you start eating. Drinking can help slow you down and help you pace yourself during the meal.
- Try to sit down for a meal. Make the place where you eat special. Set the table. Make the table nice. Make eating the meal special. Don’t just eat at the counter and run.
- If you make the meal, chop up the raw pieces or prepare the meal, you are more likely to eat it more slowly and savor every bite than if you buy takeout.
- Chew. Take your time. Try to chew 10 or 15 seconds before swallowing. Take time before putting in the next bite. Try to slow down the time between picking up the next forkful and the time between chewing and swallowing. Practice trying to be the last person to finish the meal instead of the first. It will help to find meals that require you to chew (e.g. eating food with fiber—like many raw fruits and vegetables) than eating cooked foods or soft foods, like mashed potatoes or casseroles. In the beginning until you learn to slow down, you may even need to count how many times you chew your food.
You may have to learn an entirely different style of eating. So be patient with yourself until you learn to slow down.
WHAT’s LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Today, it is easy to confused love with “an emotion.” One singer suggested that love, which seemed to have mistreated her, might even be “a second hand emotion.”
However, CHRIST, by HIS action and interaction, elevated love to a higher standard. HE sacrificed, giving all of HIMSELF, even unto death on the cross, for us.
CHRIST did not keep score. CHRIST was not easily angered. CHRIST did not seek HIS own glory on earth. HE was not rude, envious, boastful or unkind. HIS motto was not “me first.” HE let people enter into HIS world, cross HIS borders. HE interacted. HE touched the lives of others. Let us model HIM.
Today, slow down. Take time to really think about love and what you and I can do to love others like CHRIST.
Pray, love, be patient and BE BLESSED!
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1Sosthenes was the chief ruler of the synagogue in Corinth. He was seized and beaten by a Jewish mob in front of Gallio, the governor, when Sosthenes refused to turn against Paul (Acts 18:12-17).
2See, John 4: 27, which notes that even the disciples were surprised when they found JESUS talking with a woman.
3See Matthew 19:13-14, which notes that when the little children were brought to JESUS to be blessed, the disciples rebuked them and tried to shoo them away, but JESUS welcomed the children to HIM. HE took the time to touch each of them.
4See Luke 8:43-48. When the woman with the issue of blood touched the “border of his garment,” JESUS, didn’t put up any walls, HE immediately stopped to seek the woman out and despite the incredulity of the disciples that HE would extend HIMSELF so broadly, since there was a multitude of people around HIM, JESUS stopped and found the woman.
5See Luke 19:1-10. Despite being the chief Roman tax collector,” and despised and low (especially in the social hierarchy of the synagogue) so that he had to climb a tree to see JESUS (and perhaps stay a safe distance away from the crowd), JESUS saw Zacchaeus’ need. JESUS reached out to Zacchaeus and went to his house to fellowship with Zacchaeus.
