I Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
Today is Valentines’ Day, a day when we think of those we love, and we usually want to do something to show that love. The verse today is the end of I Corinthians 13, commonly called the “love” chapter. Paul uses this chapter to make the point that no human expression is greater than love. The Christians at Corinth needed to hear this because the Corinthian church was focusing too much on the spiritual gifts mentioned in chapters 12 and 14. So he sandwiches the love chapter directly between the gifts they were putting so much emphasis on.
So, why so much emphasis on love? It is the most beneficial to others of the three mentioned. True love seeks what is best for others. Love also encompasses faith and hope within it. I Corinthians 13:7 it “believeth all things, hopes all things.” Even in this life, it is the supreme attribute, because it is the most God-like characteristic. God does not have hope and faith, but he is love! God’s holiness would not allow sin into heaven, but his love made a way, by giving his Son to pay the penalty for sin.
I John 4:8 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”
Another reason Love is supreme is that it is eternal! It will last forever. Faith and Hope will have no purpose in Heaven. Faith is the evidence of things not seen, and hope is a confident expectation, but when we are with the Lord, all our hopes will be realized, and we will see the one in whom we have placed our faith.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
When Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment in the law, he replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
God placed within each of us the need for love, and the ability to give love. According to Jesus, the greatest thing we can do on this earth is to show, practice, and live love to the fullest. It is through the eye gate of love that others can get a glimpse of who God is, and how his love has changed us. Real Christ-like love shows compassion to others when they are suffering.
We are to love our enemies; to love other Christians as family, and we are to love God with everything in us. Only then will we communicate God’s love to this lost and dying world.
John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
I John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abides in death.”
Real love can only be experienced as we personally get to know God. He is the author of love, and he longs to express it to us on a personal level.
Happy Valentines’ Day!
