1 John chapter 4 and 1 Corinthians chapter 13 two books you hear quoted a lot in weddings. Whether they are Christian or not, the Bible always seems to be read in one or both of these chapters. Why is that? Well, I think the main reason is that both of these chapters focus on love, but what is love?
Do we really know what love is? We use the same word to share our feelings with our significant other as we do to our favorite burger joint. I LOVE you has become a watered down phrase we say that marks the next step in our relationship. Love doesn’t mean forever anymore, Love is temporary and only there under the best of circumstances. Luckily, we have a savior that first LOVED us.
I was a camp counselor my sophomore year of college at a sports camp in Missouri. That summer I was stuck in a log cabin with 8, 9-year-old boys that didn’t know what they got themselves into. As a part of that trip we memorized verses but to make it easier for the kids they made songs out of it. I remember specifically learning 1 John 4:10 because they paired that verse with “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift. Still to this day I have that verse memorized.
That verse is probably the most important verse to look at in this chapter. It states, “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. “ (1 John 4:10)
Let’s break this verse down. Even though we have not loved God, he still CHOOSES to love us. Can you even wrap your mind around that? When’s the last time you truly loved someone that hated every bone in your body? I’m talking lay down your life because you love them so much. I don’t think we, as imperfect beings, could even wrap our mind around that. Even though we hated him, he chose to love us AND sent his Son to die for us. That love just blows me away.
As your week comes to an end, remember what love really means. In a culture that only wants to devalue the word love, I challenge you to give that word more value as you use it in your day to day life. Have a great Thursday!