Love

I bet the percentage of wedding ceremonies that include 1 Corinthians 13 is very high.  It was in mine.  There is a paraphrase of the verses hanging on my wall.  Verses 4 through 8 are committed to my memory.  So, when 1 Corinthians 13 was listed as my daily reading for the E100 Bible Reading plan my church is following, I almost just skimmed over it.  I've read it numerous times.  I know what it says.  But I decided to be diligent and read it carefully.  I'm reading from my new Bible, which is the NLT.  I don't know if it is this translation or just that I don't normally focus on verses 1-3, but I was blown away and challenged, yet again by this chapter.

"If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing.  If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing."  1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Wow.  Love is pretty important.  But what is love?  The note in my Bible explained even further:

"Love is more important than all the spiritual gifts exercised in the church body.  Great faith, acts of dedication or sacrifice, and miracle-working power have little effect without love.  Love makes our actions and gifts useful.  Although people have different gifts, love is available to everyone.

Our society confuses love and lust.  Unlike lust, God's kind of love is directed outward toward others, not inward toward ourselves.  It is utterly unselfish.  This kind of love goes against our natural inclinations.  It is impossible to have this love unless God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return.  Thus, the more we become like Christ, the more love we will show to others."

That hit me right between the eyes and bounced all down my body.  I am a people pleaser.  I love doing things for people and seeing them smile.  I love a good thank you note from someone.  I'd like to say I don't do things in anticipation of their response, but that would be untrue.  "God helps us set aside our own natural desires so that we can love and not expect anything in return."  That means I have to not expect even a thank you.  That means I have to love people even if I know I won't be any gain for me.  Unfortunately that is a hard concept for me.  I really do want to love others as a reflection of God's love for them.  I want people to see who God is through my actions, but a lot of times my selfish pride gets in the way. 

Verse 13 says, "Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love."  Love is the greatest commandment I have been given.  It is above all other spiritual and worldly gifts.  But love doesn't mean what the world says it means.  Love is defined by God.  Love comes from God.  It is His love that I am supposed to share, the way He meant for it to be shared. 

This is why it always pays to read the Bible carefully.  What a powerful lesson I got from a passage I had previously read hundreds of times.