Love Can Build A Bridge

“Charity … thinketh no evil.” (1 Corinthians 13:4+5/KJV).

This is going to be my twentieth blog-post on the last phrase of verse 5. I have published these articles under the subcategory “forgive”. In doing so I was following the rendering of the New International Version: “Love …keeps no record of wrongs.”

The NIV wording is a good and sensible translation of the Greek. Yet I feel, the Greek text, just as the King James Version, lends itself to broader applications.

The KJV makes us consider what we think on. Our way of thinking is more than just the way we react when we have been wronged (or when we feel we have been wronged.) It has to do with the way we look at things in general. It has to do with what we conclude from what we feel, hear and see. It largely determines our feelings and actions.

The Greek word “logizomai” also could be translated: conclude, despise, esteem, reason, reckon, suppose. It has to do with the way we process information that we gather and receive

Love “thinketh no evil.” This leads us to ask ourselves what we dwell on most. Are we looking for ways to bless and to help others? Or are we reducing others to all the things we dislike about them?

Love can build a bridge to the hearts of other people. Love can help us find ways to achieve peaceful relationships.

There is a concept in educational psychology that is based on this idea. The way you conceive of a child as a parent or a teacher has a direct effect on what the child will think of himself or herself. This will largely determine subsequent conduct.

It is advisable to build a bridge for a child. It is good to actively encourage manners that are acceptable. This can help a child grow.

Occasionally, ignoring that which is undesirable can be helpful. Take a class situation. A teacher may end up spending too much time reprimanding little disturbances. At times he had better carry on with the lesson. When children realise they can learn something that is worth learning they will desire to be attentive.

Building a bridge, valuing likeable behaviours of another, is an aspect of love. Harsh criticism, being overly negative and judgmental is not. Love would seek to establish relationships that help others grow.