February 20 - 1 Corinthians 13

February 20 - 1 Corinthians 13
Love Chapter

“And now I will show you the most excellent way …”

Those words begin the glorious chapter on Love that Paul sent to the Corinthians. 

When I was in high school, one of the activities that we used was to place our own name in the 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  Most of us couldn’t do it without getting choked up.  Patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, forgets wrongs, protects, trusts, hopes, perseveres, never fails.  Some of those are impossible, all are difficult.

But, while Paul calls us to the greatness of love, what if we were to place God’s name in those verses.  God is patient with us … more than we can ever imagine.  He is kind.  His jealousy is holy – wanting us for himself, he is not envious of anything – He has no reason to be.  He doesn’t need to boast, His pride is non existent.  He isn’t rude, He isn’t self-seeking.  His anger has been abated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  He forgets the sins that we commit when we repent.  He protects us.  His covenant with us shows that He continues to trust.  He never gives up on us, always hoping that we will come into right relationship with Him.  He will never fail.

The epitome of love is found in the person of the Trinity.

Everything else will cease.  Nothing will matter someday.  We can worry about the things of our church and our home, our friends and our family and all of that will simply fade away. 

But those things that remain are those things that will take us before the throne of God.

I remember the weeks prior to Mom’s death.  Up until that point she had been actively involved in the printing business, but she finally said to me one evening as I was trying to update her on the day’s activities, that it no longer mattered.  All that mattered was that she could love us and tell us about how much she loved us.  She was right.  Everything else had finally faded away.

Her faith was strong, her hope for eternity was strong … but love.  The love that flowed around us, through us, from us … that was the strength that helped her make the next step and allowed us to move back into life.

Love is the greatest of all.