Today’s Reading
Context
The "Love Chapter" is not about fluffy, sentimental love. It speaks of a gritty, sacrificial, action-oriented love - the kind Jesus Christ demonstrated when he lived on earth and laid down his life for us. He embodied love and we are called to live out that love.
Two things stand out to me. First, it is notable how much time Paul and the other NT writers devote to love, unity, and kindness within the Body of Christ.
Second, it is sad how quick we are to forget that, or to treat unity as an unnecessary option. "If he will agree with me, apologize to me, do things my way, we can have unity."
Based on the word of God, the division of the Body of Christ must break the heart of God and hinder the work of God in this world.
Two things stand out to me. First, it is notable how much time Paul and the other NT writers devote to love, unity, and kindness within the Body of Christ.
Second, it is sad how quick we are to forget that, or to treat unity as an unnecessary option. "If he will agree with me, apologize to me, do things my way, we can have unity."
Based on the word of God, the division of the Body of Christ must break the heart of God and hinder the work of God in this world.
Devotional - Life without Love
We live in a world of brutal hate. September 11. Al-Qaeda. Isis. A political season that has been more hateful than any I can remember. Every day we witness more atrocities, hear of more wars, read of more broken homes, broken lives, shootings, unspeakably cruel acts. We stand and shake our heads.
Our fleshly response is to fight fire with fire, and certainly we want our government to enforce justice in this world. But as Christians, we have different weapons with which to fight the spiritual fight in this world. 1 Corinthians 13 describes God's primary weapon - love. When the world rebelled against him and fought his Lordship, he responded with love. And in 1 Corinthians 13 he reminds us that no matter what we do in life, if our lives are not marked by love, they will matter for nothing.
The first three verses are amazing, when you think of what they assert are meaningless without love.
The rest of the chapter goes on to define love as Christlike actions - patience, kindness, forgiveness - all those things that Christ did. When we live in Christ, his love works through us to change the lives around us. We can make more of an impact on the world through the love of Christ than in any other way.
We must remember a couple of things about this love. First, these descriptions are actions, not emotions. Our love is measured not by how we feel but by how we act. Second, the descriptions of love are essentially a non-specific biography of Jesus. Every word that describes love describes the life of Jesus. The definition of love is Jesus!
It behooves us to remember the words that Paul ended this chapter with - The greatest of these is love.
Think and Pray
Our fleshly response is to fight fire with fire, and certainly we want our government to enforce justice in this world. But as Christians, we have different weapons with which to fight the spiritual fight in this world. 1 Corinthians 13 describes God's primary weapon - love. When the world rebelled against him and fought his Lordship, he responded with love. And in 1 Corinthians 13 he reminds us that no matter what we do in life, if our lives are not marked by love, they will matter for nothing.
The first three verses are amazing, when you think of what they assert are meaningless without love.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 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 have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
The rest of the chapter goes on to define love as Christlike actions - patience, kindness, forgiveness - all those things that Christ did. When we live in Christ, his love works through us to change the lives around us. We can make more of an impact on the world through the love of Christ than in any other way.
We must remember a couple of things about this love. First, these descriptions are actions, not emotions. Our love is measured not by how we feel but by how we act. Second, the descriptions of love are essentially a non-specific biography of Jesus. Every word that describes love describes the life of Jesus. The definition of love is Jesus!
It behooves us to remember the words that Paul ended this chapter with - The greatest of these is love.
Father, may my life not be marked by wisdom or rhetoric alone, but by your love displayed to others day by day.
Think and Pray
Is your life marked by the kind of self-sacrificial love that Paul describes?
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