More love

As we study on in 1 Corinthians 13 we see that love is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered and it keeps no record of wrongs.
Self-seeking is an important aspect of a loving relationship. When I say that I love someone that is saying that I am putting their needs and their portion of the relationship above my own. I am not just putting myself in their shoes, but I am putting them in mine. Their needs are met first and then mine.
Easily angered is a tough one. THere are all kinds of formulas for containing your anger, take a deep breath, hold your breath, wait 30 seconds to react and so on. One reason that not being easily angered is found in Proverbs where Solomon tells us that out of the mouth comes the overflow of the heart. So if we say something hateful or mean out of anger we are making others feel like it is from the heart. I like to send emails. When angered I type out the email and let it sit for atleast 24 hours. This allows me to put my thoughts together and speak from my heart and not from my head or anger from my adrenaline.
Now, the toughest of all the attributes Paul leaves us with is keeping records of wrongs. We can't carry grudges in loving relationships, and we can't hang on to things that hurt us. If we do we set ourselves up for 2 things. First, we look for occasions to pay back the wrong and open the wounds even wider. Secondly, if we are mad about something done wrong to us, if we carry that around with us then we look for it to happen again and overreact to things that aren't relevant.
So when you think of your loving relationships, are you self-seeking, are you easily angered, are you keeping score?
Paul told us in2 Corinthians 5:17 "If anyone is in CHrist, he is a new creation." None of these things are possible without being a new creation in CHrist and letting the past be the past.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!