Good Tuesday morning! "Love is patient and kind..." (1 Cor 13:4) These simple words from the Apostle Paul are very similar in many Bible translations. The King James says: "Charity suffereth long and is kind." Many times we read the entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 with its 13 verses. As if to remind us that God is not in any way afraid of numbers, we have the 13th chapter of the book with 13 verses. One of the great chapters in the greatest of books, the Bible, speaks of what is truly great: love. In the prior chapter, Paul writes of spiritual gifts and how much we should desire to use them for building up the church. Then, Paul introduces the best thing: "And in any event, you should desire the most helpful gifts. First, however, let me tell you about something else that is better than any of them!" (1 Cor 12:31)
We hear much about the gifts given to us by the Spirit, prophecy, teaching, healing, and others. We like to hear about the gifts, but sometimes we forget the thing Paul calls better than any of them. Jesus gave us the Great Commission, and often some are fired up and ready to go spread the good news. But Jesus also gave two commandments that he called greatest. When asked which of the ten commandments was the most important, Jesus replied: " 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Matt 22:37-40)
The spiritual gifts often call attention to the one holding those gifts; this can be a dangerous thing if pride is allowed a foothold. Love on the other hand is not proud. Right after writing two things that love is, Paul goes on to say four things that love is not. "...love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude." If a person has the gift of prophecy there is always the danger of becoming boastful. "You should believe what I say!" Special knowledge can cause any of us to say 'look at me!' instead of, 'Look to God!" In the next verse, 1 Corinthians 13:5, Paul writes, "Love does not demand its own way." The greatest of these things holds the answers to so many of the problems we tend to cause ourselves. "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." (13:7) Enduring through every circumstance sounds like a pretty good thing, but this is not just that old grit or toughness that puts up with circumstances. This is about showing the love of Jesus in every circumstance and rising above the feelings of selfishness that might say "Me first!" when things get tough. Sounds difficult, and it will be, but nowhere in this chapter do I find where Paul said anything like: love is easy to do.
Have an interesting day in the snow!
Bucky
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