Over the past week and a half I have seen at least 5 athletes post the famous bible verse of “Love is patient” except they never post the entire verse, they end it with “It keeps no record of wrongs,” BUT that is not the entire verse, so here is it in it’s entirety which is 1 of my favorite verses:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,  but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

It’s ironic that NFL players and other athletes post up to the “wrong doing” but do they really understand UNDERSTAND what they are posting or are they just posting for likes?

Here is what all the athletes who post this verse miss the boat on:

In the now-famous “Love Chapter” of 1 Corinthians, Paul wrote about love that is put into practice. More than just a feeling or emotion, Paul writes less about what love is and more about what love does. Transformed by the love of Jesus Christ, this kind of love should be a natural overflow of the believer’s heart and evident in everything they do. Unfortunately, for the Corinthian church, this was not always the case.  The words used in 1 Corinthians 13 to describe love are the kind of active verbs Paul was challenging the Corinthian church to adopt: patience, kindness, humility, forgiveness, trust, hope, and perseverance. Love, Paul argued, was the greatest outward testimony of their inward transformation. 

At the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13, Paul writes, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1). He then goes on to say that if Christians are able to prophesy, can understand the mysteries of the universe, and give to the poor but ultimately lack love, their actions are meaningless, and there is no spiritual gain. Love must be at the root of everything Christians do and evident in their actions.

It’s more about your ACTIONS than your WORDS. And in the world of social media, the NFL players (and other athletes) certainly just know how to talk the talk when they hardly walk the walk.