Verse: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Devotion
You’re probably naturally good at a few of the facets of love from the laundry list that Paul’s writing about in Chapter 13 here. It’s kind of like love languages: you have a couple that you prefer or gravitate to, right? And maybe a few that don’t really resonate as deeply. I struggle with plenty of other facets of love Paul mentions in the chapter, but verse 7 here feels really natural to me. To me it makes sense, because if you love people then you want the best for them. You want them to reach their ideal future. That’s the hope and perseverance mentioned too. If they’re going to reach that future, then they need a combination of a cheerleader and shield, and that’s what verse 7 is all about.

So how do we lovingly protect? Should we aim to prevent all harm? All suffering? All pain? I think my first thought is to look at bad circumstances happening to someone you love and think that I should have protected them from it, especially if those bad circumstances are physical, violent, or gruesome. Nobody wants to see their loved ones go through an accident or an injury.

My second thought goes more towards relationships. Protecting your husband or wife could mean noticing when they’re stressed and ensuring that they get a break to recover. You’re protecting their health and their mind. Helping a coworker or schoolmate get through their work when they’re not comprehending it or overwhelmed can be protecting them from falling behind.

Being a safe person for a friend to talk with when they’re vulnerable is protecting that friend and friendship and helping them recover gracefully. The nuance in situations where we should lovingly protect someone is always just making sure that you’re not limiting someone’s life experience, enabling bad behavior, or helping them evade natural consequences.

Taken all together, I think the goal is to be there for people and support them when bad circumstances happen, and if you can prevent a few of those circumstances along the way with a bit of prudence, that’s helpful too.

Author: Jordan Ambra