Read 1 Corinthians 13:4b-5 NLT
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.
“It does not demand its own way.”
I like things the way I like them. When my husband I were first married, we had very different philosophies on how to fold laundry. This led to many conversations about how my way was the correct way to fold the laundry. Most of the conversations were humorous, but there was always a hint of …”but my way is the way it needs to be done”, at least on my part. We’ve been married for over 25 years now and we both have let up on the need to have the upperhand on laundry techniques – it doesn’t rank up there on our priority list anymore. In fact, we each fold the spouse’s clothes the way the other one likes them best now. By doing this we serve each other in a small way that the other will appreciate. It shows that we care more about each other than the way the laundry gets folded.
But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to check ourselves on demanding our way in other areas of our lives. We don’t always get it right. It just means that we need to view more things like we do our laundry – as a way to serve each other and love each other well.
We don’t need to be right all the time and sticking our heels in the mud. Refusing to see things the way someone else does gets us nowhere. But deciding to not allow what we want to get in the way of how we show love to each other makes a huge difference!
