Thursday, June 14: 1Corinthians 13- LOVE.

Love… just seeing the chapter designation primes my thinking. Possibly the greatest definition of love ever put on paper. And while I was primed to consider love as I set my eyes to the page, I was taken back by the statements of the opening paragraph.

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 (1-3).

It is not simply the definition of love that is so powerful; it is also the place of love in the world's economy.

More important than any eloquence, more important than the deepest understanding, more important than the deepest faith or than the highest sacrifice to give ones' life for someone else, is that these great deeds be done with love.

I let these thoughts soak in. 

Love is the paramount action, bar none! Love is the definition of a life well lived. I looked back now at the definition of love given by Paul… and soaked in it…

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 (4-7).

Oh, God… to be Your disciple is to be a person formed by and for love. Lord, when my life draws to a close and I am ushered into Your eternity… may it be said of me, 'He loved.'

God lead me to be such a man, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

 

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