Verse 5:

 0r rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

                Love is not rude.

                Do you think God is ever rude?  Did Jesus ever show rudeness?  Was Jesus rude to His interrogators?  Was Jesus ever rude to the scribes, the Pharisees, or sinners?  No.  Jesus was never impolite, discourteous, bad-mannered, uncouth, foul, vulgar, disrespectful, offensive.  Love is not any of these things, and Jesus never manifested any of these characteristics and neither has God.  Has Jesus ever been rude to you?

                Love does not insist on its own way.

            Does God insist on His way?  If God did, God would not be love.  God has shown us the way of life, the way of love, the way to eternal life through Jesus.  But God does not insist on His own way.  Though God has infinite power, wisdom, and love, God does not force anyone to walk in the way of life.  God does not force anyone to love Him or love anyone else.  God allows sinners to sin and haters to hate.  God allows people to believe any lie or any religion they want to believe, but when people choose to believe a lie or follow a religion that contradicts the scriptures, God allows people to suffer the consequences of not going God's way.  If God insisted that everyone go to heaven whether they wanted to or not, that everyone believe in Him and love Him whether they wanted to or not, that would be God insisting on His own way.  And that would be inconsistent with God being a loving God.  God is love; therefore, God does not insist on His own way.  Did you ever see Jesus insisting on His own way.  Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He told of the manifold blessings of following Him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, but Jesus did not insist that everyone follow Him.  Jesus gave people a choice to believe or not believe, to follow or not follow, to love or not love.  But, there are consequences of not believing, not following, and not loving.

You might insist:

                            God DOES insist on His own way.

                            God makes the rules.

                            God sets the punishments.

                            God sets the conditions of salvation.

                            God says that to be saved we must:

                                           repent of our sins, and

                                           place our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Yes, God has done all of this, but not in the sense of "It's my football, so we'll play by my rules."  That is someone insisting on their own way.

             Rather, God created the universe and human beings with intelligence, desire, feelings, and the ability to make choices.  But God did not set up arbitrary rules and regulations to insist on His own way.  God knows how everything and everyone can work together in harmony, because God designed and created everything and everyone to live and work together in harmony.

            Physical Laws describe how physical forces and objects can work together in harmony.  Moral Laws describe how God and people can behave so they can work and live together in harmony.

            Example:  When a builder designs and builds a car, he knows the rules or Physical Laws to follow so all the car's parts will function in harmony and bring satisfaction to the buyer.

            When a dealer sells a new car, he gives an Owner's Manual to the buyer so he can follow maintenance rules and keep all the car's parts working in harmony.  In some sense, an Automobile Owner's Manual is a book of Moral Laws.  The Manual tells the buyer what he should do to make the car operate at peak efficiency.  The Owner's Manual does not force the buyer to follow its guidelines.

            When buyers maintain their cars, they last longer, since all the right parts are lubricated and replaced as needed.

            When drivers follow all the rules of the road, everyone has a more harmonious driving experience.  Drivers and their cars last longer and driving can be enjoyable.  A Driver's Manual that we read to take and pass a Driver's Test is a manual of Moral Laws.  Passing the test gives some evidence we know the laws, but the Driver's Manual and our Driver's License does not force us to obey the Laws.  Rules of the Road are Moral Laws that the government gives us to promote our safe and happy driving.

             A good engineer will insist that the right Physical Laws are followed when a car is built, but that is not insisting on his own way.  A good police officer will insist that the Moral Laws in the Driver's Manual are obeyed, but that is not insisting on his own way.

            Likewise, because God loves us, He has given us the Bible as an Owner's Manual so we will get the most out of our minds, bodies, and souls.  God has given us the Holy Spirit, churches, teachers, Christian families, and friends so we can understand the Scriptures and live together in harmony with God and one another.  The Bible is suited to our human nature and relations as created by God.  The Bible shows that God is both a Good Engineer and a Good Police Officer.  And we might add that the Bible shows Jesus is a Good Lawyer or Advocate.

            God does not insist on His own way selfishly, just to make life happy for Him.  God insists people follow the Rules of Life so they can live happy, harmonious, loving, enjoyable, unselfish lives suited to their nature as created by God.  God insists people follow the User's Manual He has given us, the Bible, because God is love and wants the very best for us and everyone He created.  God wants to promote the highest well-being and happiness of everyone.

            Because God loves us, He sent a solution into the world to help everyone who has ever violated the Rules of Life.  God's solution was not a set of shiny new tools and a tech manual so we could fix ourselves up.

            God's solution was sending His only begotten Son, who demonstrated personally by His words and actions the Law of Love and the Rules of Life, so we would know how to live in harmony.

            But we needed more than Jesus' example and efforts to live His way of life to fix us up.  We needed the Son of God to die a sacrificial death on the cross for our sins.  We needed Jesus to rise again from the dead and conquer death for us.

            Jesus Christ, His Life and Death, is the solution for our morally and spiritually broken down lives.  Jesus' life and death for us are an expression of God's deep love for us, sinners and rebels.  We take our broken lives into Christ's fellowship, the Church.  We ask Jesus to fix us up morally and spiritually, and sometimes physically (though we need moral and spiritual fixing up more than physical fixing up).  We turn our lives over to Jesus totally, and we trust Him totally to meet our needs.  We tell Him that we need His help to be made spiritually well.  We tell Him that we need His help to understand and apply the Rules of Life.  And Jesus will help us because Jesus loves us.

            If your car totally breaks down, and I insist that you take your car to a auto mechanic; instead of a tailor, a jeweler, a carpenter, or a painter, am I insisting on my own way?  Would you say to me: "You don't love me, you are insisting on your own way"?  Probably not.

            When Christian parents set rules to help their children live consistently with the Bible's teachings and to protect them from temptation and harm,  do their children ever say: "You don't love me, you are just insisting on having things your way"? Maybe.

            Likewise, after our lives have broken down morally and spiritually, is God unloving and insisting on His own way, just because God tells us where to go to get fixed?  God the Father tells us, "Go to Jesus as Lord and Savior, and He will save you from your sins."  So, we go to the Father's House, a House of Prayer, to meet Jesus.  Because God loves us, God tells us the only place to go to get help.  That is NOT insisting on His own way.

            In this study and always, I will tell you to go to the One Person who can solve your moral and spiritual problems for all eternity.  I will tell you to go to Jesus Christ, not because I am insisting on my own way, but because it is true that only Jesus can save you from your sins and make you fit for heaven.

            Love is not irritable or resentful.

            In the Bible, neither God, nor Jesus, nor the Holy Spirit ever manifested irritability or resentfulness.  When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, even after He had fasted 40 days, Jesus did not show any irritability toward Satan.  Jesus never showed any resentfulness toward Satan.  Jesus answered Scripture with Scripture, and then finally respectfully commanded Satan to depart.  Jesus was exhausted on many occasions, but Jesus never showed any resentfulness toward the crowds when they pressed upon Him for one more healing or one more sermon.  Love is not irritable or resentful.  And even when Jesus was mentally and physically exhausted and pushed to the limit, Jesus never uttered an irritable or resentful word.  Love is not irritable or resentful.