Agape love “does not rejoice over unrighteousness” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Remember, agape love seeks the best of others. So, when news comes that so-and-so has slipped, fallen, and cracked, and bad things have happened to those “we love”, we don’t say, “Oh, good! They deserved that! They had that coming to them! So glad it finally caught up to them. I was wondering when justice would thunder down upon them! Hope they’re happy with the results of their stupidity.” No, agape is always hoping that others succeed and live righteous lives and shine brightly in their love. It does not stand by to gloat over misdeeds–especially with the feeling that if others go down, then that puts me up a bit. My goal in life is not to go up a bit! My goal is to love others and honor them with my life and demonstrate agape to them. Rejoicing over their misfortune, over just retribution, over their sad outcomes are not demonstrations of agape love. John Baptizer said about Jesus: “He must increase, I must decrease.” That’s an intentional downward movement. And the downward is a positive! Putting ourselves up is a negative!
Now we get back to some positives in the agape description. Agape love “rejoices with the truth.” Agape love is demonstrated by genuinely enjoying the good things that surround the revealing of the truth about someone or something. It is a cause for rejoicing! It is a cause for celebration! Contrast it with the negative: it’s not time to go backwards, and wish that such-and-such hadn’t happened to so-and-so—because if so-an-so had stayed the same, and we didn’t have results of going forward then I would still be in the lead, or I would be the one that people would notice, or my position (based on “truth”!) would be the one people would comment on! No, love is always trying to move forward in a positive way, and rejoicing with the truth is one way that happens.
There’s a lot to be thankful for, and we celebrate that in the spirit and character of agape love! That’s what John the Baptist did in pointing to Jesus as The One; he rejoiced! And this is a contrast: agape does not rejoice with unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.
Freddy Boswell 