Today is my happy day as DST ends. I know some of you are very sad, but you don’t have to weep as long as I do – it’ll be back on March 13, 2022! The main thing to remember is that Sunday evening services begin at 5:00 P.M. in the interim. We hope to see you this evening!
I wish there was a perfect English translation of God’s holy word but there isn’t – despite the claims of marketeers. A good example of a problematic text is 1 Corinthians 13:5 which should be reasonably clear. The NKJV reads thusly about agape love: “does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;” Notice the difference in the last phrase of this verse in the ESV: “or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;” All of us would probably have difficulty agreeing on any similarity between “thinking no evil” and “being resentful”.
This short phrase in Greek consists of four words. The key word translated “thinks” in the NKJV is an accounting term or verb meaning to tally or keep an account. While I seldom make this statement about the NIV, it may offer the most literal and best translation of this short phrase: “It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” It is impossible to desire the best for someone (demonstrate agape love) if we’re constantly keeping track of their faults. Likewise, we cannot obey our Lord’s command about forgiveness if we’re keeping the offender’s wrongs in a ledger.
Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22; NKJV).