1 Corinthians 13
I know we have all heard part of this chapter at many of the weddings we have been to, or maybe even had someone read it at your own wedding. That is great! But I don’t believe that’s what it was always intended for.
Paul wrote this to a church in Corinth that was competitive and full of itself. People who were showing off their spiritual gifts and ranking each other. These people were missing the point, entirely.
Paul writes:
- If I could speak every language on earth, but don’t have love, I am just making noise
- If I had every answer and faith strong enough to move mountains, but no love, I’m nothing
- If I gave away everything I owned and sacrificed my life, all without love, I gain nothing
In other words…talent, generosity, and devotion do not count if they are about yourself. Love is what gives everything else its value.
Love is:
Patient – it doesn’t rush people or put a stopwatch on their growth
Kind – it looks for ways to make someone’s day better
Love is not:
Jealous or boastful – doesn’t celebrate someone else’s win with only yourself in mind or keeps the spotlight on just you
Irritable – it has manners at all times
Demanding – does not keep score or expect something in return
A record keeper – doesn’t save receipts for a later argument
A quitter – it has your back, assumes the best, and never gives up on you
Love isn’t a feeling. It is a set of choices you make, especially when it is inconvenient.
Your résumé, your knowledge, your reputation all have an expiration date. How you loved people is the thing that lasts forever. You can be gifted, smart, and generous, but if you aren’t patient, kind, humble and forgiving with people, you’ve missed the whole thing.
Verse 13 always says it best. If you read it to yourself and you are like me at all, you repeat it in your head like only Alan Jackson could, maybe with a tear in eye, “Faith, Hope and Love are some good things He gave us, and the greatest is LOVE”.