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The Love Principle - Study 2: The Meaning

  • 8 hours ago
  • 25 min read

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV 

[13] And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.13.13.NIV)


Valentine’s Day. 


A day to commemorate a Roman Christian (although there is some discussion on who this was) who was martyred for his faith on February 14th . He is also mentioned by the Catholic church as the patron saint of bees and epilepsy.  


I do not suggest giving either to your beloved to show how you feel about them. 


He was not, as many might believe, the patron saint of greetings card or flower sellers or the confectionary industry. 


Yet his feast day is indelibly connected to love. 


In fact, how you mark his day is a barometer of how you feel about someone. When I was a child, the barometer of your popularity, particularly with the opposite sex, was the number of Valentine’s Day cards you received. 


All I am saying is that the postman was not kept busy at my front door. 


How most people see love is romance, sex and the queue at the STD clinic, or at the pharmacy for pregnancy tests. That is it for them. 


So to hear that God loves them is nice. To hear that we are called to love each other is even better. That means they can sidle over to the nicest looking person in church and say, ‘Did you know that Christians are commanded to love?’ 


Of course, it’s all absolute nonsense.  


These verses are among the most mis-quoted in all of Scripture. They are not romantic. Not one bit. They are about as romantic as a peace agreement between warring states, or a legal contract to prevent a dispute, or an arbitration agreement between a company and a labour union. 


Because that is what these verses are. They are Paul’s passionate appeal to unite a disunited church. They are a reminder of how God loves and a plea to love the same way. 


What we have to understand is that both Hebrew (the language in which the love laws were originally written) and Greek (the language in which the Gospels were written) both had more than one word for love, whereas in English, we only have one. For us to fully understand how to obey the commands to love, we need to understand what love means. 


The Hebrew word for love used in Deuteronomy 6:5 (‘ahava’) means ‘strong, committed affection’. It comes from the root word ‘to give’, implying action, in particular generosity, on the part of the person who loves. 


The Greek word for love used by Jesus in Matthew 22:37, and by Paul throughout 1 Corinthians 13 (‘agape’) means unconditional, selfless and sacrificial love. Scholars believe that it was only used in the Bible. Its first appearance in history was in a Greek translation of Song of Songs. It’s a deeply committed love that loves no matter what and always seeks the best for the object of its affection. 


Look again carefully at those two loves. It feels like standing at Everest base camp, staring up at an insurmountable peak. These are very high aspirations.  


Yet this is how we are commanded to love. 


But what does this mean? What does loving like this really mean for us? 


That is exactly what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 13, to a church that knew little of it. That’s why we will start this study looking at The Unloving. 

 

The Unloving 

1 Corinthians 3:3-4 NIV 

[3] You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? [4] For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.3.3-4.NIV)


I have seen churches with serious internal problems caused by what they thought at the time were serious internal issues: sexual sin, doctrines, finance, gossip, slander, power struggles, music, even in one church the decor on the walls. I've stood and shook my head in deep dismay more than once at the foolish and immature goings on. 


But never in my life have I seen a church quite like the church in Corinth. 


The issues Paul addressed in both of the letters in the Bible are beyond serious. For most churches, they would be terminal. Allow me to annotate them for you: 


So tell me: what would you say their number one problem is? How would you fix this unholy debacle? 


Paul examined them as a doctor examining his patient. He diagnosed their problem. He wrote them a prescription with just one word on it that would solve all their problems.

 

What was that solution? 


Love. 


1 Corinthians 13 is not a romantic poem. It is instead the solution to the disease which had made this church seriously ill. 


A lack of love was the problem. 


Love is the answer. 


The Corinthians needed to love God, their neighbours and themselves, so they could love their neighbours as themselves. 


So much going wrong in this church. So many strange ideas. So much immorality. So much division. 


Yet Paul did not tell them to learn lessons in theology or history or doctrine. He did not send them to a deep prayer meeting for an ecstatic experience. He did not send them to a debating chamber to argue it out. There is no ‘survival of the fittest’. There is no ‘my way or the highway’. There is none of that at all. 


Because none of these would fix their problems at all. They would more than likely have made them worse. 


There is only love. 


The solution to all of their problems was love. 


Think about your church. Think about your fellowship. Do you see problems? Do you see issues? Do you see festering difficulties? Problematic meetings? Distracting debates? Is it riven with rumour and gossip and innuendo and slander? 


The solution is love. 


Now, it’s easy to point the finger. It’s easy to say, ‘Well, the problem is that they don’t love me’. 


Really? 


Do you love them? 


If you don’t then you are part of the problem. 


I find it incredibly striking that the solution to this whole mess was aa simple and profound as love. But we shouldn’t think this is unusual. Paul tells many other churches to love each other too: 


Romans 12:9-10 NIV 

[9] Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. [10] Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.  

Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV 

[16] I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, [18] may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, [19] and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 

Ephesians 4:1-2 NIV 

[1] As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. [2] Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.4.1-2.NIV)


Philippians 2:1-4 NIV 

[1] Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, [2] then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/php.2.1-4.NIV)


Colossians 3:12-14 NIV 

[12] Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. [13] Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. [14] And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 

1 John 4:7-8 NIV 

[7] Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. [8] Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1jn.4.7-8.NIV)


Do you see it? I’m sure you do. 


As Christians, we receive the love of God. We are then supposed to, and are even commanded to, refract this love out to those around us and inwardly to ourselves like light hitting a raindrop, or better still, a diamond.  


It’s when we don’t do that that we find ourselves failing as followers of Jesus Christ. 


Further studies in this series will look at different facets of this diamond, to help us understand why these should refract the love of God and how we should clean them up so they work as they should.  


This study, though, is all about the flawless light of the love of God. 


We have seen, then, how the Corinthian church was in darkness. It had a whole series of very serious, and close to terminal, issues that it needed to resolve. But the solution for every single one of them in turn was love.  


Let’s move on, then, to examine facets of the Christian life and what happens to them Without Love. 

 

Without Love 

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV 

[1] 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. [2] 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. [3] 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. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.13.1-3.NIV)


For my Christmas this year, one of my uncles bought me a small desk vacuum cleaner so I could keep my desk tidy. A thoughtful gift. It sits behind my monitors. 


However, it doesn’t work. 


It needs batteries. Our batteries needed charging. They have now been charged, but I just haven’t had the time to put them on the vacuum cleaner. So it just sits there, while all around it dust gathers on the desk. 


Without batteries, it’s useless. 


What we see in these verses are three aspects of ancient, and, in some cases, modern Christian life. They are real headline-grabbers. Attention-drawing. In fact, there are many who say that if you don’t have at least one of these, then you are not a real Christian (which, by the way, is incorrect). 


But what Paul said about them is staggering: 


Without love, they are nothing. Empty. Meaningless. Useless. A big fat zero.

 

Let’s examine each one in turn: 


Tongues. 


Now, I am fully aware of how controversial and sensitive this is for some people. I don’t want to enter into any kind of obscure argument about theology or history here. I simply want to show you what the Bible actually says on the matter. 


The ability to speak in tongues is a gift that not everyone has. That much is very clear from 1 Corinthians 12:30. 


Speaking in tongues is not a cause at all to believe that you are uniquely gifted and therefore superior to other believers. 1 Corinthians 12:12-30 makes that clear. 


Tongues are not a public curiosity. They are not given for entertainment purposes. They are for private devotional use and should only be used in public worship when there is an interpreter. 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 makes this clear. 


Those are Biblical standards, not mine. 


Tongues not to be sought after as a sign of salvation (because they are not), of acceptance (because they are not) or of superiority (because they are not). 


Years ago, when I was a missionary, I had preached in a Pentecostal church and was on my way home. I was passing a bus stop where a Romanian woman from the church was waiting on her bus. She stopped me and thanked me for the sermon. I expressed my appreciation. 


She then asked me, ‘Tell me, brother, have you ever prayed for the gift of tongues?’ 


I smiled and replied, in fluent Romanian, ‘Yes, I prayed for the gift of the Romanian tongue, and I got it.’ 


Here is the cold, hard reality. The Corinthian church is the only church in the Bible that had any issue with speaking in tongues. Outside of their letters and the book of Acts, it’s not even mentioned. Yet in Corinth it had almost been elevated to mythical status and those who had it were almost revered as being superior to everyone else. 


Paul, however, saw things differently: 


1 Corinthians 14:12 NIV 

[12] Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.14.12.NIV)


And a chapter earlier, as we saw, he made it plain that speaking in tongues was not what they made it out to be. 


There are two types of tongues in the Bible, as Paul stated. There is an ecstatic glossolalia – the language of angels: a unique language to be used in private devotional worship. That is mentioned almost exclusively in 1 Corinthians. 


There is also tongues of men. This is the divine ability to speak a human language that you could not speak before and need to acquire for the purpose of Gospel mission. This is clearly what happened in Acts 2:1-12. 


Both of these may have granted someone to believe they were better than other Christians, or may have caused them to be raised on a pedestal in admiration by those around then, but Paul brings them crashing back down to earth with just one phrase. 


Without love they are nothing. 


Worse than nothing: they are a loud, tinny, irritating sound, like the banging of a gong or a resounding cymbal. 


Next Paul takes aim at something else: 


Prophecy, Knowledge and Faith. 


Three mighty miraculous gifts: the application of Scripture to contemporary issues and foretelling of the future; intimate knowledge of someone’s life and the ability to speak the Word of God directly into it; faith that sees past any obstacle to the possibilities of what God can do. 


Tell me this: who wouldn’t want to have gifts like this?  


Anyone who had even of these three would be revered in church. Of course they would! People would queue up around the block to talk to them, to listen to them. They would be highly prized preachers and teachers. 


And not just by Christians. 


Someone like this would be immensely popular for speaking tours, book tours, podcasts, TV shows. They would reach stardom in no time at all. 


Yet again, Paul cuts that right down. 


Without love, they are nothing. 


The last group of people were every much a big thing in Paul’s day, but less so in ours: 


The Voluntary Poor and Martyrs. 


Great generosity was a feature of the Early Church: 


Acts 4:32-37 NIV 

[32] All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. [33] With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all [34] that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales [35] and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. [36] Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), [37] sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. 

Paul’s example goes further, to a level the disciples practiced to follow Jesus: the abandonment of all material wealth. The Corinthians clearly looked up to people who had done precisely that, including Paul himself. 


Then he took it further. He talked of martyrdom. Paul talked here about Christians losing their lives, quite literally, in the fires of persecution. It happened. It was real. 


Of course, we look up to anyone whose faith in God is so strong that they resist even to the point of death. They are fully deserving of our respect. 


But Paul said something shocking. He said that even surrendering our material belongings and life causes us to gain nothing if we don’t love. 


That is an incredible thing to say. After all, there can be little doubt that people surrendered their life on earth to gain an eternal reward. Paul said that if we don’t love, that eternal reward isn’t there! 


Why? 


Because we have not truly believed in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice in the cross. We have not set Him apart as Lord. 


We have not obeyed Him. 


Is that alarming to you? Jesus said something similar: 


Matthew 7:21-23 NIV 

[21]  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. [22] Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ [23] Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ 

The will is our Father in Heaven is to love. There is nothing more important than that. 


As Jesus said, all of our obedience to Him depends on it. 


Apart from those who didn’t love and what happens if we are without love, we also see What Love Is. 

 

What Love Is 

1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV 

[4] Love is patient, love is kind. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.13.4.NIV)


Since my in-laws are in the Philippines and my wife and I are in Scotland, we have things in our country that our relatives don’t want or need in the Philippines: things like a water boiler or radiators. My mother-in-law was quite taken aback when she heard that we have gas piped into our house. It quite unnerved her. 


How would you describe what love is to someone who doesn’t know? That is what Paul was doing here. He is doing it for a church that is clearly battling some warped thinking. 


But he does so by using only two words to describe it. 


Love is patient, a word that is translated as ‘longsuffering’ in other translations. What the word basically means is someone who is slow to get angry.  


It’s a quality that is part of God’s character: 


Exodus 34:5-7 NIV 

[5] Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. [6] And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, [7] maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/exo.34.5-7.NIV)


Joel 2:12-13 NIV 

[12] “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” [13] Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 

It’s a part of His character the Israelites relied upon, and maybe also presumed upon, very often.  


There are two particular areas to where this patience, this slow-burning fuse is applied. 


The first is suffering. The word carries the sense of quietly enduring difficult circumstances and trials. 


The second is relationships. This word applies to being patient when it comes to other people’s foibles and failings, not losing our cool when they don’t do what we want or like. It’s a kind of tolerance that feels the friction, but does not burst into flames. It puts up with negative situations caused by other people. It does not demand they change. 


That might seem impossibly hard, but remember this verse: 


2 Peter 3:9 NIV 

[9] The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/2pe.3.9.NIV)


How patient has God been with us? How many foibles and failings, how much folly and foolishness, has He had to tolerate from us?


Psalms 103:8-12 NIV 

[8] The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. [9] He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; [10] he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. [11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; [12] as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 

How, then, can we be impatient and insist that others dance to our tune, when we are not at pace with God’s? 


No, God’s patience towards us has to be refracted out into our patience towards others. 


But love is not just patient, it is also kind. 


Ephesians 4:32 NIV 

[32] Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/eph.4.32.NIV)


The word ‘kind’ means to be gentle, mild, benevolent. It is to look out for the needs of others without seeking personal gain for ourselves. It is to lift them up. 


It is the complete opposite of the harsh, merciless, dog-eat-dog life on the ladder of souls. 


That kindness is ultimately an act of grace for the undeserving (Ephesians 2:1-10). 


As Titus explained: 


Titus 3:3-7 NIV 

[3] At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. [4] But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/tit.3.3-7.NIV)


God’s kindness to us ought to be refracted out into our kindness to others. 


It’s a truly dangerous thing to not show others the same grace, compassion and patience you have received (Matthew 18:21-35). 


It should not surprise us that qualities of the character of God are held up as examples of love. God, after all, is love (1 John 4:8, 16). 


But apart from those who did not show love, what life is like without love and what love is, we also see What Love Is Not. 

 

What Love Is Not 

1 Corinthians 13:5-8 NIV 

[5] It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. [8] Love never fails.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.13.5-8.NIV)


Often when I was a child, doctors would examine you when you were sick or had a fever and would diagnose a medicine that would taste disgusting. Your parents (usually your mother) would have the job of getting you to ingest some horrible syrup or other. You would fight against it, but she would always win. It would be good for you, but you hated every second of being forced to swallow that vile liquid and you would always cry as if you had been seriously injured. 


In reality, you were disappointed that someone who you thought cared for you could make you swallow something so horrible. 


But, of course, what you didn’t know was that it was always for your good. 


The Corinthian church was a sick church. It had all manner of problems. Here Paul is giving them their medicine. He is presenting them with the cure. He is doing so in love, but I’m sure it was difficult for them to swallow because he was highlighting the many ways in which they were being disobedient and were not loving God, their neighbours or themselves. 


This is quite the list. Going through it will chafe. It will challenge.  


I want you to also notice something else about it. Paul does not say here who we should love. That is because these criteria exist no matter who you love. They apply when we love God. They apply when we love others (of course). 


They also apply when we love ourselves, because we should love others in the same way as we love ourselves. 


What does this mean? 


Let’s find out. 


We see firstly that love does not dishonour others, or, put more simply, act dishonourably.


Other translations use the word envy. 


In other words, love does not put down. It does not drag others down from the rung above us so we can climb above them. It does not devalue God’s image in either ourselves or other people. It treats them with respect. It does not defame. It does not slander. 


It doss not break the tenth commandment and covet (Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21) which is the root cause of all these sins. 


Already we are challenging a sin that lies at the root of so much bad behaviour in our world. 


Secondly, love is not self-seeking. Love does not seek to be first by sacrificing others. Love does not push itself forward. As Paul explained to the Philippians, another church irked by division:


Philippians 2:3-4 NIV 

[3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/php.2.3-4.NIV)


Thirdly, love is not easily angered. Love has a long fuse, as we saw earlier. It is patient and long-suffering with others and with the irritating situations it encounters. 


In fact, the Greek goes even further. Love doesn’t just have a long fuse, it has no fuse at all: it is not provoked. It acts with reason and precision, not fury, pique or blind rage. 


Romans 12:19 NIV 

[19] Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.  

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.12.19.NIV)


Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV 

[26] “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, [27] and do not give the devil a foothold.  

James 1:19-20 NIV 

[19] My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, [20] because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.  

Are we feeling the pinch yet? 


Fourthly, love keeps no record of wrongs. That is, love bears no grudges.  


Again, we also see this elsewhere in Scripture. It is an unmistakable part of loving your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). And no wonder it was as the damage it caused to the Patriarchs was all to easy to see  (Genesis 27:41, 50:15). 


This is why Jesus was so clear that we should keep short accounts with people and sort out our issues with them before we worship (Matthew 5:23-26; 6:12, 14-15; Mark 11:25). 


A grudge is a burden too heavy for any Christian to carry. It ought to be laid at the foot of the Cross and left there forever. 


Fifthly, we see that love does not delight in evil. That is, it does not take joy in an unjust act happening to anyone, friend or enemy, because, sixthly, love rejoices in the truth.  


Now, this is not just any truth, but things that are objectively, spiritually, wholly true beyond any doubt. In contrast to delighting in evil, love delights in the highest of virtues and renounces any enjoyment from deceit or trickery. 


Seventhly, love does not fail, because it always trusts, protects, hopes and perseveres. Love seeks the highest and best in anyone, and is relentless in pursuing it, but is also patient, waiting quietly for the time when that ‘best’ will appear. Because of this faith in the future blessing and patience to see it come, love is always rewarded. 


I have to be honest, these verses are very difficult for me. They should really be very difficult for everyone. 


It’s not that they are hard to understand. They are not. That is the problem. They are simple and direct. But I have yet to meet a single human who has not failed in at least one of these areas and I doubt I ever will. 


These verses are a huge reminder of how amazing God’s love for us really is, and how paltry our is in comparison.  


But as well as seeing what happens without love, what love is and what it isn’t, we finish by looking at Why Love Is The Greatest. 

 

Why Love Is The Greatest 

1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV 

[13] And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.13.13.NIV)


There are always people who come up with their list of things that are the greatest in their category. For example: the greatest car or city or ski resort or holiday. It’s easy to say something like that. 


But when someone challenges you on it, it’s less easy to justify why your proposal is better than theirs. 


Paul, however finds it relatively easy. 


He compares love first to three graces: prophecy, tongues and knowledge. These are the types of gifts that the Corinthians revelled in. Their charismatic mind-set elevated those who had these gifts above other believers. They marked them out as special and unique. 


Paul the Apostle, however, who spoke in tongues himself (1 Corinthians 14:18), and had a theological knowledge that would way outstrip any modern theologian, simply said that none of these three graces holds a candle to love. 


Why? 


Because they are only ever partial. They are incomplete. 


And this is where we must be very careful. While these gifts can be used for the edification of the church and the encouragement of believers, there is no verse at all in Scripture – not even one – which says that to be a genuine believer you must have one of yourself gifts.


None of them – not even one – define us as Christians.  


Yet we see this verse: 


John 13:35 NIV 

[35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.13.35.NIV)


These graces are nice, but they aren’t critical to our walk with God. 


Love is. 


Apart from three graces, we also see three pictures: maturity, mirror and mastery.


When he talks about maturity, Paul, as we say in Scotland, is trying to get the Corinthians to act their age, not their shoe size. We saw this elsewhere in this letter: 


1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV 

[1] Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. [2] I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. [3] You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? [4] For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.3.1-4.NIV)


His point is striking and well worth remembering; the way of division is the way of immaturity; the way of love is the way of true maturity. 


Any observer of the news in the 2020s can easily confirm this is true. 


We also see the picture of the mirror. Mirrors in those days were of low quality: often marred with dirt and stains – kind of like the wardrobe mirrors in the bedrooms of our house once my wife and daughter have used them for a few weeks to get ready. Ours can easily cleaned (usually by me) so the picture becomes clearer. Theirs could not. So the picture in them was always imperfect. 


Paul's point is that we never see things a hundred percent as they are. Our vision is always faulty and flawed. Those who love accept this and never cast aspersions or judgements until they know all the facts; for those who do not love, a little knowledge is often a very dangerous thing, mainly because a little knowledge is all they have. They know nothing at all, but they talk about it with great enthusiasm. 


Again, surely we see this pretty much every day of our lives. 


The third picture is of mastery: of being willing to admit that our knowledge is only partial. The more we know, the more we know we do not know. Love breeds humility, not pride (1 Corinthians 8:1-3). 


So we see then Paul’s reasoning behind his bold statement that love is even greater than faith or hope. 


That is quite a statement. 


Faith in the grace of God causes us to be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). Hope is what draws us towards that eventual salvation, through all the hardships of life, and it will not disappoint us (Romans 5:1-5) 


But love... love is the very character of God (1 John 4:7-8, 16). It’s in loving that we truly exhibit God’s character, that we show ourselves to be genuine disciples of Jesus Christ (John 13:34-35). 


Love is the greatest knowledge, the finest theology, the highest obedience. Without love, all of these are dry and fruitless. 


Love is the heartbeat of our evangelism, the drive of our mission, the strength of our service.


Without love, these are just going through the motions. 


Love is greater than all of them because they all need love to be of any value at all. 


So, yes, Paul was right: love is the greatest of all. 

 

Conclusion 

1 Corinthians 12:31 NIV 

[31] And yet I will show you the most excellent way. 

(Read the full passage at: https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.12.31.NIV)


A number of years ago, we had the privilege of staying in a Swiss Alpine hotel in Wengen and waking up every morning to see the Eigur. It was quite simply astonishing. There is no other word to describe it. 


Some see a high Alpine view like that and, like us, see it as something to be filmed or photographed. If someone was to ask is if we’d like to go to the very top, we would look for a cable car or a funicular railway. 


But there were those who see a stunning view like that and want to climb the mountain, even if it is imposing and actually quite dangerous. 


Not a few overly adventurous people have lost their lives in the ascent up the mountains. 


1 Corinthians 13 is a stunningly beautiful passage. There is no doubt about that. It is among the most beautiful pieces of writing anywhere in the Bible. I will not disagree with that.  


But it was not a mountain view designed to be pictured and shared on social media. It was never beauty for beauty’s sake. 


No, this quite wonderful passage was a solution to a serious problem. It was a message to a divided and broken church designed to put them back on the straight and narrow. It was never designed for weddings or to be quoted on Valentine’s Day. 


Looking carefully at the church that did not love, and the sheer emptiness of life without love, we also saw what love and is not, and why it is the greatest. 


That leaves us with a very challenging question: now we know what love truly is, are we prepared to love like that?  


Because that is not only the pinnacle of true obedience. It is, in fact, what obedience is: to love is to obey and to obey is to love. 


We might find ourselves at the foot of this gorgeous, but utterly intimidating, mountain of love. We may see the command to love as being tbe impossible command.  


But isn’t that the point? 


Seeking to obey this command will drive us further and further from the hate-filled valleys of sin and  closer and closer to God in His strength, further into the heights of love. 


This is what it means to be a true disciples of Jesus. 


Will you follow Him? 

 

Prayer 

Lord Jesus, I yearn for a love like this. I know I have it in You, but I also long to receive it from others. I know that to receive this love, I must also love like this. And so I commit myself to receiving Your love and retracting it to the world around me. Amen. 

 

Questions 

  • How would you compare this love to the love you experience from other people in this world? Is it better or worse? 

  • Without this love, what happens to all religious thinking and practice? Why is this important? 

  • Could you love like this? What help would you need? 

 

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