If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.
This is the classic Love chapter in the Bible. It is used in sermons and weddings all the time. When I think back to the many times I've heard it, I think of two different responses I've had. First, I think, wow - love is really the main thing. Above all else God just wants us to love each other. It really simplifies Christianity and religion to nuts and bolts. Well, maybe just one nut: Love. Other times when I hear this passage I think, wow - that love is hard. Forget simplification. Will I ever be patient, kind, not envious, not boastful or arrogant or rude? Will I ever stop insisting on my own way? Can I stop being irritable and resentful? Can I always rejoice in truth, bear all things, believe and hope in all things, and endure through all things with love? That is a tall order.
Let's look closely today at this important chapter. In the first section, Paul emphasizes how important love is. Basically to me it comes across as we can do a lot of good things and have a lot of gifts, but if we don't do things in love then we might as well just stay home in bed. First off, what a great reminder. No matter what I'm doing or thinking I should have love on my mind. This month with my focus on loving I'm been doing just that. Whenever I can I'm pausing and thinking "Am I loving on people right now?" If not, then I'm trying to pray that God's love would work through me whatever I'm doing - folding clothes, cleaning snotty noses, chatting with other mothers, whatever.
Second, that first section reminds me what not to strive for. While it is good to speak God's words or language, that is meant to be a tool of love, not a way to show off. While it is good to seek knowledge and understanding, I'm never going to fully understand God's ways, or as I'm finding the older I get, I'm never going to understand much at all when it comes to the ways of God. Faith is important, but my human faith is always going to waver at times. And I can do good works, sharing and reaching out to others, but that is not something to boast about. But I can remember and focus on love and then all of those other things begin to make more sense.
The middle section of the chapter looks at some things love is and isn't. It's quite a list. As I said earlier, it can make me feel a bit of a failure to have those high standards. But then I remember the fruit of God's Spirit. God's love is patient and kind. Jesus didn't go around boasting or being arrogant. Instead he used his love to serve. Jesus didn't insist on his own way but prayed for God's will to be done. God's love rejoices when truth is spoken and offers hope to us sinful human beings. God's love meets all these standards and God's love is dwelling in me through Holy Spirit. So I can expect these high standards for myself, but not on my own power. Instead I submit to God's will and control of my life and look forward to the great work His love can do through me.
Finally, the chapter ends by saying that all things end, but love can endure. We talked about this a few days ago. And I love how it ends. We now see things dimly. We are living in a sinful world with God as if veiled from us. We are still growing. Slowly in the world we can get better and better at letting God's Spirit work through us, but one day we will be able to stand before God and see Him face to face and feel the full effects of perfect love. If that love doesn't provide HOPE I don't know what will. So keep on loving. Practice, practice, practice. Love will endure. And in the end we will get to meet full and true LOVE!
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