Wednesday: A Portrait of Jesus
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 12th of August 2026
As we read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, we may feel frustrated at realizing that, to a lesser or greater degree, we fall short of displaying all those features of love. Likely, Paul had the person of Jesus in mind when writing 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Indeed, only Christ perfectly revealed all those characteristics of love. Thus, ultimately, Paul’s portrayal of love is a portrait of Jesus.
Read John 13:1,34; John 15:9,12; 1 Timothy 1:14; 2 Timothy 1:7,13; 1 John 3:16; and 1 John 4:7-12,19-21. What can we learn about love from these passages?
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God is love (1 John 4:8). He loves us so much that He gave His only Son (John 3:16). Jesus is the full expression of this love (Hebrews 1:3). If we want to know how love expresses itself, we must take a long look at Jesus. If we pay close attention to the portrayal of Jesus in the New Testament, we will realize that all the positive features of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 are seen in Him.
Jesus is patient. “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience [makrothymia]” (1 Timothy 1:16, NIV).
Jesus is kind. The Bible says that “the Lord is kind” (1 Peter 2:3, LEB). The word “Lord” in this passage refers to Jesus. The term “kind” renders the Greek word chrēstos, which comes from the same root as the verb chrēsteuomai (“to show kindness”) in 1 Corinthians 13:4.
Jesus rejoices in the truth. Jesus experienced joy as He followed the will of the Father and felt His love for Him (John 15:9-11, John 17:12-14).
Jesus bears/endures all things. Hebrews 12:2-3 says that Jesus “endured the cross. . . . [He] endured such hostility from sinners against Himself” (NKJV). Nobody has endured so much as Jesus (Philippians 2:8). He did this for the joy set before Him!
Jesus believes all things. When Ananias questioned the genuineness of Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:13-14), Jesus answered, “He is a chosen instrument of mine” (Acts 9:15, ESV). Jesus sees people not only as they are but as they will become through His power.
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What are other ways that Jesus reveals to us what true love really is? |
Yesterday I shared a picture of a Spotted Pardalote and I think most of you probably thought it was a pretty bird. While that is true, there is so much more about these birds that you would not know from the picture. It is one of Australia’s smallest birds, about 10cm long. Interestingly it feeds on insects high in the canopy but it nests in burrows in the ground. I have seen their nests. They are also surprisingly quick. I was watching one carrying food into its nest, when a Nankeen Kestrel swooped over my shoulder, diving at the Pardalote. I know the Pardalote escaped because I have a photo of the Kestrel departing empty-handed.
There is so much more to tell about Pardalotes. Sure, you can read some of it in a book, but nothing beats walking out in the bush and experiencing the presence of the birds, hearing their calls, and watching them move and fly.
A portrait of Jesus is more than a picture. There is a significant difference between reading about Jesus and walking with Him. When we take Jesus out into the tracks and swamps of real life and follow in his footsteps, interacting with real people, we gain an experiential understanding of Him. You can paint a beautiful picture of Jesus using AI. The words will be eloquent, the language smooth, but AI is a stochastic parrot, assembling words with a statistical algorithm without either experience or understanding. If you want to see the real Jesus, walk with him. That is the way others will see a portrait of Jesus.
Maurice – Yes, I agree that “there is a significant difference between reading about Jesus and walking with Him.” Though, even His apostles ‘walked with Him’ wherever He went, and still could not ‘understand’ Him until the very end when the Holy Spirit was poured out for them, enabling them to recognize/understand God’s Glory manifest in Jesus.
Respectfully, I do not believe that “we [can] gain an experiential understanding of Him [Jesus] by merely taking Jesus out into the tracks and swamps of life.” Unless, we are inspired and filled with the Love of God as Jesus was. If this is the case, then it is He who takes us out into the ‘tracks and swamps’ of life!
Without God’s Spirit dwelling within the believer, one might just come across as this ‘stochastic parrot’ you mentioned. But this one is filled/informed by the never ending stream of ‘religious’ information this ‘parrot’ is compelled to consume and able to ‘regurgitate’ at will – always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the Truth. – 2 Tim.3:10-17.
You wrote:
Brigitte, I essentially agree with you, but we need to understand that we do not have the luxury of getting the inspiration and love of Jesus right before we hit the tracks. Our inspiration and spiritual development has to take place in the forge of life. We are born on the tracks and that is where we meet Jesus in and through our interactions with others. It is a dynamic relationship that grows and develops.
Maurice – I appreciate your reply. It appears I misinterpreted your reference to ‘tracks and swamps of life’ to mean ‘purposely entering the mission field’. I see now that your perspective refers to the individual believer’s life-experience.
Yes, I share your understanding that, once we committed our life to Jesus, “our inspiration and spiritual development has to take place in the forge of life”. Though to ‘meet Jesus’ there still requires the presence of the Holy Spirit to interpret the spiritual aspects of life for us.
Actually, I am not sure who you refer to when saying ‘we are born on the tracks’ – ‘we’, humanity, or ‘we’ the Ecclesia. One can be born into a family of believers and never meet Jesus personally. On the other hand, the destitute person wandering lost on the ‘tracks and swamps of life’, struggling to make sense of life, hears the voice of God drawing him to Himself. No one else but God’s Spirit can touch his heart to cause him to cry out Abba – Father. Rom 8:15; Gal.4:6; John 6:44.
Jesus is not merely an example of love but He is the ultimate standard of love. If we allow Jesus to dwell in our hearts, He will produce the same quality of love in us. Agape love will never be achieved by human willpower but only by the indwelling Christ. By receiving Christ in our hearts, then only can we be able to live agape love. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). As we continue abiding in the vine, gradually but surely, we get transformed into the likeness of Jesus.
“And we all…are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
To measure up to the standard of love portrayed by 1 Corinthians 13 is possible because He who gives us the standard of love also gives us the grace to be transformed toward it. “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” (Philippians 2:13, NLT). The grace of God does not only forgives us of our sins but also teaches to become like Jesus.
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.” (Titus 2:11-12, NIV)
Jesus demonstrated the fruit of the spirit in all aspects of His life. We can conclude He is the epitome of the fruit of the spirit. Except we abide in Jesus, we will be unable to exhibit the fruits. It is the love of Jesus that will motivate us to be patient and kind to those who treat us well and those who treat us otherwise.
To imagine that all of the attributes of love in 1 Cor. 13 are personified in Jesus and his interaction with Creation is amazing enough by itself, but to bring it even closer and apply it to his interactions with myself makes it even more amazing. After all the suffering that my sins alone have caused him to experience, and yet he still loves me and treats me that way is truly transformative. The love of God revealed through the person of Jesus is almost beyond comprehension. He didn’t do this only for me, he also did it for thee.
I don’t want to crucify the Lord afresh every time I sin. I earnestly want to be more like Him, and less like me. Please Lord, let it be!
Feel the Nails, Ray Boltz
We learn about the attributes of Love, but merely applying them without the Spirit’s prompting from within, leads to that which Cor.13:1-3 speak about.
Paul speaks in the first person, applying the words he speaks to his own conduct. He tells us that it is not the act in and off itself that moves heaven and earth, but God’s Glory from which the act springs! The type of Love the Father instills in His children by His Spirit is His Own – John 6:44-48.
Jesus is the ‘Bread of Life’. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, makes the Glory of the Father observable by all, but only those who can ‘hear’ with their heart are drawn to Him by the Father’s Spirit manifest in His Son.
1 Corintians 13 expounds the matter of what true love does and does not do. Though, taking Jesus as our ‘example’ is not enough. We cannot just copy His behavior. We need to recognize/ understand that His behavior is ‘alive’ only by the Spirit of the Father; the same Spirit which He asked Him to give to us as well.
The good attributes in love only found in Jesus. His love is perfect, but man’s love vary. The christians are eager to be like Jesus. We must be Christlike character so we may be able to wear white clothes and serve Him forever in heaven.
The love of Jesus is needed, to ease uncomfortable life in this world. How I wish that every christian share the gospel of God, that’s our way to express our love to Him and to our fellow men. ❤️
. The christians are eager to be like Jesus. We must be Christlike character so we may be able to wear white clothes and serve Him forever in heaven.
The love of Jesus is needed, to ease uncomfortable life in this world. How I wish that every christian share the gospel of God, that’s our way to express our love to Him and to our