Extra Absorbent
By Elin Henderson
“Love bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things…”
I Corinthians 13:7
(NKJV)
How many of us have stood in front of the
paper towel, tissue, diaper or toilet paper section of the grocery store and
had to decide which type to buy? Absorbent? Extra absorbent? Super absorbent?
There are so many options! For me, personally, it has been awhile since I had
this much variety to choose from. When I am in Africa, IF I find any paper
towels in the store at all, I buy them…extra absorbent or not!
I couldn’t help but think the other day when
I was reading the well-known “love” passage in I Corinthians 13, how much we as
Christians are called to be extra absorbent when it comes to life and wrongs.
It is possible to read this verse as saying “Love absorbs all things,” True
love takes the hit, cleans up the spills, and absorbs the mess of sin and hurt.
The fact is that we live in a messy world with plenty of accidents (purposeful
and accidental). Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can we love in such
a way that we absorb the hurt and still stay in one piece! That requires some
serious absorption! To absorb hurt is truly the harder road to take. Humanly
speaking, it is easier to reciprocate hurt than it is to absorb it. Our natural
tendency is return the “favor” to the one who hurt us. We tend to think, “Oh
yeah? Well, two can play that game.” The Holy Spirit calls us to do what is
humanly impossible; He calls us to a “God-likeness” that covers and absorbs a
multitude of sins with a deep love that does not reciprocate hurt for hurt.
So how absorbent have you been? What happens
when life spills hurt on to you? Today, let’s look to our source of True Love,
and show His love to the messy world around us by
becoming extra absorbent.
GOING DEEPER:
1. What
other truths about love’s extra absorption can you learn from 1 Corinthians 13?
How will you live it?
FURTHER READING:
Oakwood’s
missionaries Elin Henderson (a registered nurse) and her husband Phil serve as
church planters with New Tribes in Mozambique, Africa. Elin is mother to twelve-year-old Callie and
nine-year-old Elias. They are currently in America on Home Assignment.
