Love is forever. That’s a phrase many would say is not realistic. People fall in love, get married, and when the relationship doesn’t fulfill their dreams they divorce and move on to another relationship. Families quarrel and refuse to sit at a table together, or even speak to one another. Friends are friends, as long as the relationship is meeting their needs. Therefore, many would say “love is forever” is unrealistic or impossible. However, Paul gives a different view of what real love is in I Corinthians 13:8.
I Corinthians 13:8 “Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.”
Paul begins this section with charity, or rather love never fails! What does it mean? The love he is talking about throughout this chapter is probably love, that most have never experienced. However, this is the love we should have for others. It’s hard for us to imagine a love that never fails because we equate love with how we feel. If you read “The Characteristics of Love Part I & II,” there you will find the measuring stick for real love.
To understand how love never fails you must look back at verse 7b. The last part of that verse states that love endures all things. It doesn’t quit or scream divorce just because its needs are not met. Love is relentless, it abides over time because this type of love can only be secured by our belief in Christ and the desire to obey Him.
The ultimate reference here is to the love of God. His love will never fail. It is permanently etched throughout eternity. Jesus is the bridge to that eternal love. The key to crossing that bridge is offered to all who believe.
While we realize that God is love, Paul’s intention is to challenge and teach us that if we are saved, that same love is within us. He wants us to live out that love on a day-to-day basis with others. It should control our words, thinking, and actions. Will we mess up and say things that are unloving? The answer to that is a resounding “YES.” However, when we do, the Holy Spirit that lives within us will convict us. As we yield to the control of the Spirit, we will repent, and each time we are tempted, He will remind us how wrong our thinking is. This love transcends the love we have for a family member or close friend. It is a love that encompasses the treatment of our fellow man.
It has always been God’s command to love others as you love yourself. In the Old Testament, he gave them the command to love.
Leviticus 19:18 “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD.”
In the New Testament, he amplifies this truth by adding that we are to love our enemies, not just love those around us.
Matthew 22:39 “And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
Matthew 5:46 “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?”
Paul lets us know that love is the supreme attribute that will win every time. All other gifts and knowledge will pass away. They will fail, but real love will not fail!
