Love Does Not Provoke
by Diana Scothorn
My husband and I pray over our marriage daily. 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Love puts others in front of themselves. We are committed to our marriage and, therefore, committed to God’s love. With that being said, it is daily work to grow in the love of Jesus!
There’s a famous passage about love in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. It says love suffers long (is patient during difficult seasons of marriage), love is kind, loves does not envy, love does not parade itself, and love does not seek its own.
True love knows while we give to our mates, God will give back to us in ways we’re not capable of.
It goes on to say…
…love does not behave rudely, is not provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, and endures all things! God’s love never fails!!! God’s love is a lifetime work. I’m thankful God is patient with me while I grow in His love!
One day as I was reading that passage, I saw something I had never seen before. I always thought 1 Corinthians 13:5 says love “does not provoke.” However, it says love “IS NOT PROVOKED.”
Provoke is defined as stimulating or causing a rise. It’s a reaction or emotion, typically a strong or unwelcome one. It means to call forth a feeling. Wow!
The new revelation of the verse “LOVE DOES NOT PROVOKE” boomerangs the responsibility to not be provoked back to me! We are to call on God’s love and diffuse the weapons the devil fires at us.
The synonyms for provoke are to stop, to calm, and to disarm. Colossians 2:15 says we are to disarm principalities and powers. One of the definitions of disarm is to remove the fuse from a bomb!
1 John 4:8 tell us God is love. As we spend time daily with God and His word, we become rooted in love. The deeper the root of love, the harder it will become for the devil to cause a rise. If God is for us, nothing or no one can come against us!
Ecclesiastes 7:9 say, “Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.”
So when someone provokes us to get a reaction and causes us to lose our peace and joy and stir us to anger, we need to remember GOD’S LOVE IS NOT PROVOKED.
The more we mature in the Lord, the more we will realize to walk in love, choose joy, and refuse defeat is a responsibility the Lord has given us.
We’re to provoke people to love. We’re to cause a rise in their spirit with God’s Spirit of love. We must be patient with the ones God is still working on while He allows His finished work to take place in their hearts.
When we understand God’s love does not provoke, we will begin to walk in a new level of love only God can invoke!
God’s love will provoke others to seek God. We’re not to be the ones provoked to anger but the ones encouraging others to be provoked to God’s love!
~Diana
Diana Scothorn published author of “Daily Dose with Diana“, has a heart for helping women succeed, with a focus on a strong, spiritual, mental, and physical core. Diana’s background in the health and fitness world began with one of the most iconic names in fitness, Richard Simons. Overseeing ladies’ health clubs for 10-plus years allowed Diana to step into a passion for marketplace ministry even before ministering the gospel in business was widely accepted.
She’s been married to her prince charming, Stewart, going on 12 years, and they enjoy spending time with their 4 kids and 8 grandchildren. Both are ordained ministers of the Gospel, serve on the board of several well-known ministries, and are also co-owners of, The Benefit Link, Inc., a marketplace ministry business, which has been number one in the field for over 25 years and is licensed in all 50 States, serving senior citizens in need of compassion, prayer, and guidance when facing the challenges of the Medicare maze.
Diana’s been featured in Society Magazine’s Successful Business Women of the Year for 2018, 2019, and 2020. As an international speaker, Diana has traveled abroad for over 10 years, along with her husband, to help support missions throughout Europe and South America, focusing on funding the Kingdom and advancing the gospel.
Connect with Diana on Instagram and Facebook, where she has “Diana’s Daily Devotionals” encouraging and inspiring women to live daily in victory.
