I Work at It

Meditations on

Staying in the Grace for Today 

June 29, 2026

I Work at It

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-5

A man stopped on the way home from work for a few drinks with his buddies. As usual, a few turned into several. When he got home his young daughter, who was wearing all over her face whatever had been prepared for her supper, and had a rather large and odoriferous deposit in her diaper, rushed to jump into his arms. As he stepped backwards, fighting off a sudden wave of nausea, he muttered to his wife, “How do you love something that smells like this?” She calmly replied, “The same way I love a husband who comes home stinkin’ drunk and affectionate; I work at it.”

Someone said they heard this man share this incident at an AA meeting. I hope so. The story reminds me of the man who explained to his minister why he was filing for divorce, “I just lost my love for her.” The minister replied, “You may lose your screwdriver, but you don’t lose your love for someone. Love is a choice, a decision you make. Love is a verb; it is action, not emotion.” When you spend time pondering the full catalog of love’s virtues in 1 Corinthians 13, you realize this is the point St. Paul was making. Life gives us ample opportunity to be jealous, boastful, proud, rude and irritable. Love chooses to be patient and kind instead.

Love is not easy. Making the decision to love is just the first step; actually, loving someone in difficult circumstances is hard work. It has been my experience that taking the first step, making the decision to love, requires reaffirmation, sometimes daily.

My Takeaway: When I struggle to express love in difficult situations, I recall that 1 Corinthians 13, the Love Chapter, is a vivid description of how God loves us. Not only is God’s love for us patient and kind, but God also “never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:7). Then I claim the promise: “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

Sē’lah

My book on prayer,

First Think, Then Pray

is now available on Amazon Kindle.

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2026 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.