1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Let Love Come Alive, CALL TO UNITY
All non-biblical literary efforts to define love fall silent before the apostle Paul's amazing hymn of love. It is a description of Christ and the love He enables in us when He comes to indwell us.
This passage will come alive if you read it three ways: 1)read it as Paul wrote it; 2)put the word "Christ" in place of the word "love" and read it again. 3)read the passage also as a prayer for your own life, that the virtues of love will be manifested in you. The miracle of Christ's indwelling power is that the love He revealed is exactly the love He will communicate to others through us. When this quality of love is the basis of a relationship, the miracle of unity is possible.
If we had love we would not need commandments. We would not have to repent. We would not offend anyone. Nor would we be offended. We would not be unrighteous. We would forgive. We would love those who come against us. If we had true love, the love Jesus Christ has for us, we would not sin.
I shared this with a few of my co-workers and I was surprised at the feedback on how it hit home with them. It surely has affected how I need to express my love to all that come across my path.
Blessings, Tony
