Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6)
Love does not rejoice when people are hurt. Love does not celebrate when people are destroyed. I don’t care who they are or what they did. If the love of God is working within you, you hope to see mercy and love win over judgment and pain.
Love doesn’t want people to go through pain. Love rejoices when those who have done wrong and have come to the knowledge of the truth.
Years ago, the concept of truth wasn’t seen as so objectively as it is in our society today. Many post-modern people will read 1 Corinthians 13:6 with the mindset that rejoicing in truth is simply celebrating those who have “discovered their truth.” This is not the case. In fact, most people who say they are living “their truth” are bound in deception by the enemy. The people around them don’t really love them, because if they did, they would help open their eyes to the danger and iniquity they are tying themselves to.
What is truth? Truth is the Word of God.
Love speaks the Word of God with authenticity and transparency. Love declares what God’s Word says with a heart of joy and faith. Love celebrates when the Word wins. Love rejoices when people give their lives to Jesus. Love celebrates when someone who had done wrong opens their eyes, repents, and turns back to God.
When we act with a heart of love, we seek the redemption of others, regardless of what our emotions or flesh feel like in the moment.
Practical Application
When you pray for those who have done wrong, what does your prayer sound like? Are you praying for their eyes to be open and to see the error of their ways? Are you praying for God’s mercy and grace to find them amid their wrong and save them? Or are you using your prayers asking God to attack them? Love doesn’t rejoice in others’ destruction. It rejoices in God’s Word being fulfilled.