More Like Him - Friday
Today’s Verse
1 Corinthians 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)
One of the most-read passages at wedding ceremonies is 1 Corinthians 13. It’s often referred to as the love chapter. I’ve used it many times in weddings that I’ve officiated because the Apostle Paul’s words are clear and direct. But a few years ago, I decided that a little more explanation was needed. If we’re not careful, we can treat this reading more like poetry as opposed to one of the clearest teachings about love in all of scripture. When you put that perspective next to the fact that our word “love” has such a watered-down meaning. We can love our spouse, but we can also love pizza, vacations, movies, sports. You get the idea. That understanding of love is based more on emotion. In other words, I will love something IF it offers me something I enjoy and desire. And therein lies the problem. That kind of love is conditional—it expects something in return.
The kind of love Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 13 was not romantic or emotional love. The word Paul used for love here could be translated as sacrificial love. I always make it a point in marriage ceremonies to say that romantic love alone will never sustain the marriage. It takes choosing sacrificial love over the feeling of love. It will take loving the way Jesus did, obedientlyandsacrificially. It’s an unconditional love—a love that expects nothing in return and only wants what’s best for the other. Jon Weece once described that kind of love this way, “You first, me second.” Feelings will almost always demand me first. The most profound love is loving what God loves, the way God loves it.
REFLECTION
Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 again. This time, put the word sacrificial in front of the word love each time it’s used. The passage will take on a whole new meaning. Like Jesus, let’s choose to love today whether our emotions feel up to it or not.
