I love numbers. And counting. So I love when I find Bible verses that talk about counting. 😉

Today there are three that I’d like to highlight!

1. Count it all GOOD

“Love keeps no record of wrongs…” – 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)

“Love does not take into account a wrong suffered…” – 1 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB)

The word for “does not take into account” in the Greek is logizomai. It means “to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over; to take into account; pass to one’s account.”

Love doesn’t count up the evil things or wrongdoings. Love doesn’t keep a record of sin! But that got me thinking… what if love counted up the good? What if love kept a record of the right things?

I was reading this verse in the context of marriage… am I keeping track of all my husband’s “rights” or focusing on the (very few) wrongs? And in regards to my kids… am I counting up all the good they do or only responding to the bad? With God… am I praising Him for all the amazing things He’s done or complaining about I’m still waiting on?

Instead of counting up of all the wrong and evil in this world, let’s keep track of all the good. Let’s count all the ways God shows His love to us everyday. Let’s get better at remembering all the right things in our relationships with others. Let’s count it all good!

2. Count it all JOY

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” – James 1:2-3 (ESV)

We’re counting it all JOY… when? When we face a trial. We are counting the hard things as joy because the testing of our faith, that trial, is producing perseverance in us! That doesn’t mean it’s easy.

It’s natural to count it all joy when life is comfortable and there aren’t any bumps in the road.

But life is made up of seasons, and Jesus promised that we would have trouble in this world. If we can have good eyes – eyes of faith – to see that He’ll work it all out for our benefit, then we can endure with His joy as our strength.

The Greek word for “all” is pas; it means “any and every kind; the highest degree, the maximum.”

The word for “joy” in the Greek is chara, and it’s defined as “joy, gladness; the cause or occasion of joy.”

So we can decide to count every one of our trials as the cause or occasion of joy – the reason to be glad! The trial doesn’t have steal our joy; the enemy can’t take our joy from us. We can choose joy to the MAX – the highest degree of joy! Let’s count it all joy!!

3. Count it all LOSS

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:7-11

I believe it’s important to count it all good and count it all joy. But really, we’re counting it all LOSS.

Every single thing pales in comparison to Jesus, to knowing Him.

All the things that bring us gain, all the good and all the joy… we can count them as loss, count them as rubbish, in view of the incredible value in knowing the Savior of the world.

The Greek word for “count” in these James and Philippians verses is hēgeomai and it means “to consider, deem, account, think.”

The choice is ours, and it starts in our thoughts. We have to be intentional in how we count, in how we consider the things happening around us and to us. And at the end of the day, what matters most is knowing Jesus and making Him known… loving God and loving people. Let’s count all the rest loss!!!

We can count up or down. Track gain or loss. Record bad or good. The manner in which you count reveals where your eyes are fixed. Are you seeing your circumstances, lacking faith and sinking? Or are your eyes fixed on Jesus, full of faith and walking on the water?

How are you counting today?

❤️

This week’s song suggestions:

• “Remembrance” by Hillsong
• “The Cost” by Rend Collective
• “Counting Every Blessing” by Rend Collective