Love Rejoices In The Truth

Alba 12-28-2025

LOVE REJOICES IN THE TRUTH

I Corinthians 13:6

A man told of the terrible experience he had with an advertisement he saw on television. He said that they told him that he could get one type of car for $100.00, and later they said he could get one house for $1000.00, but he would have to join their group. According to them the membership fee was $99.00, but if he could call at that minute, they would reduce it to $39.99. So he joined immediately. However, on their website there was no car for $100.00, and there was no house at all. But they had already taken his credit card and charged it several times before he canceled his membership. He said, “Be vigilant, be sure of the details of the business you are about to go into.”

That man was scammed. Don't you hate when that happens? Hopefully it hasn't happened to you. It is wise to take that man's advice so you can avoid the evil intent of scammers, “Be vigilant”. I don't think that anyone rejoices when that kind of evil is done to someone. Which brings us to our text for today. First Corinthians 13:6 says that love, “does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.” (NKJV) Other versions help us to get a good understanding of what is meant by “iniquity”. The NIV simply says, “evil”. The NLT says, “injustice”. The ESV says, “wrong doing”. The NASV says, “unrighteousness”. So if love is present, real love, agape love, there is no pleasure taken when bad things happen or are done, whether its to yourself or to others.

To rejoice in evil, is not only to justify it, but to make wrong appear to be right. Which is exactly what Isaiah was calling God’s people out for when he wrote these words in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Those words seem to be a pretty accurate description of our modern culture.

Can you think of examples where our society has called something evil as if it were good? I can think of several. In the Spring of 2024 the White House did not celebrate Easter. Instead it was declared to be Transgender Day of Visibility, a social movement that rejects God's design, and there were people indecently parading around that day. Thankfully this past Easter the White House planned faith filled events.

And here is something else. Just this fall there were people rejoicing in the killing of Charlie Kirk. Many have been devastated by that act. Any killing should be seen as wicked and evil. But there were some who seemed happy about this wrong doing, this evil, this unrighteousness. To me, that shows that the political divide in this country has become the devil's playground.

What we are dealing with is good vs. evil. Romans 1:32 describes some of the things we are seeing and says that though there are people who, “knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

We need to learn the lesson that love does not rejoice (delight, applaud, cheer or celebrate) doing and participating in evil and wrongdoing. The point of 1 Corinthians 13 is about living out God’s kind of love in our relationships. Psalm One sums it up quite well. It says, “Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”

But then it warns: “The ungodly are not so, But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

And Psalm 97:10 call out, “Hate evil, you who love the Lord” (NASB) If we are going to be people of love (and Jesus said that is the way people will know we belong to Him), then there should be no occasion in which we would rejoice in any evil or unrighteousness. Instead, what we should be looking for and rejoicing in are the things that bear out with truth. But even that can be difficult. Sometimes we don't like to hear the truth.