courteous in the beginning...

we are looking in 1 corinthians 13 at what love is and verse 5 (niv) says, love is not rude or in otherwords love is respectful. one of the traits of respect is to yield your rights and serve.

so what does yielding and serving look like? well, there are dozens of examples i could give but i’m just going to give you a couple. one example of yielding and serving looks a whole lot like courtesy, common courtesy.

there is a sharp comparison in luke 7 that JESUS drew between the lack of courtesy that the pharisee, simon withheld and all of the courtesy that the woman gave? verses 44-46 (cev), he turned toward the woman and said to simon, “have you noticed this woman? when I came into your home, you didn't give ME any water so I could wash MY feet. but she has washed MY feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. you didn't greet ME with a kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing MY feet. you didn't even pour olive oil on MY head, but she has poured expensive perfume on MY feet.” JESUS was just talking about fundamental courtesy. just the courtesy and customs of the day.

we used to be so courteous as young men. why do we act courteous early in the relationship, but we’re not courteous as the months and years go along. maybe for your wife or girlfriend, you used to open the car door for them. now you’re half way across the parking lot, and you don’t even know if she’s still in the car. like, “what’s wrong with you? is your arm broken?!?” specifically for the husbands. why do you stop serving and being courteous just because you’re now married?

here’s another. service is also when we do our very best for others. when we do a deed of kindness, but we do it with a lot of reluctance, that’s not really service. but when we do our best for others, it does really show that we’re wanting to serve and that they really do matter to us.

notice the word expensive. this woman didn’t come with a that-will-do attitude. she didn’t just “get by.” she probably had cheaper perfume. but she wanted to do for the SON of GOD her very best. other versions said it’s a rare perfume – rare, expensive perfume. she wanted to offer her best. this is one way we do show honor and respect for GOD. it’s not like GOD expects us to bring HIM something that’s perfect. none of us can do that. all of us are imperfect people. but HE does expect that we bring HIM our best.

just a thought from the front porch…