LOVE
1 CORINTHIANS 13
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
Paul has been teaching the church about spiritual gifts; the church has been hankering after the gift of tongues, likely because it is both showy and personally edifying and in this strongly worded chapter, he tells them that when there is a lack of love, when the motivation is selfish and the result benefits little, even only self, then in God’s eyes, there is little value.
While Paul does not explicitly say so, we must read this in the context of God’s point of view and this must bring to mind what Jesus taught, that while we are called to love God, in truth, it is when we love our neighbours as ourselves (the second greatest command)—when we put on love—that we express our love for God.
At the heart of love is the desire for the good of the one loved and not the self. In Paul’s description of what love is we see that unmistakable pattern—the direction is always towards others: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. To be a mature Christian is difficult but not complicated: we learn to care more for others and less for ourselves.
Why is love greater than faith and hope? Because our faith and hope is in God but love is found in God. God does not need to have faith or hope but he loves. When we love we appropriate the very nature of God.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”