1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8 – “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”
THEME OF THE DAY: LOVED WITH AN INDESCRIBABLE LOVE. We have likely heard today’s scripture, or a portion of it, read at a wedding ceremony sometime in our lives. It might even hang in our homes as a plaque on a wall. Ask most Christians to name the love chapter in the Bible and the answer will be 1 Corinthians 13.
We find the Apostle Paul giving us a detailed and wonderful description of how we are to love one another. It is a tall order for sure, but remember, it is love that affirms we are disciples of the Lord Jesus. In the Upper Room Discourse, He gave what is known as the New Commandment – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). The key interpretive means of understanding this love Jesus commands of us in our relationships with other Christians is when the Lord says the words “just as I have loved you.” And how does He love? J. C. Ryle, the 19th century English pastor, gave us a great description of the love of Jesus and it is as follows:
“Christ’s lovingkindness to His people never changes and never fails. It is a deep well, of which no one ever found the bottom. It began from all eternity, before they were born. It chose, called, and quickened them when they were dead in trespasses and sins. It drew them to God and changed their character, and put a new will in their minds, and a new song in their mouths. It has borne with them in all their waywardness and shortcomings. It will never allow them to be separated from God. It will flow ever forward, like a mighty river, through the endless ages of eternity. Christ’s love and mercy must be a sinner’s plea when he first begins his journey. Christ’s love and mercy will be his only plea when he crosses the dark river and enters home. Let us seek to know this love by inward experience and prize it more. Let it constrain us more continually to live, not to ourselves, but to Him who died for us and rose again.”
How beautiful are the words of Ryle? Do we realize what he is doing? He is describing 1 Corinthians 13 love as it applies from Jesus to us. And that is our application today. Don’t start trying to do 1 Corinthians 13 first. We love because He first loved us. We learn to love by first being overwhelmed with His love. Take time and meditate on this love chapter and remember this is how Jesus loves us. The more we experience His love, the more we love; the more we will practice 1 Corinthians 13 with God’s people.
PRAYER: Father, thank You for such love that will never leave me, forsake me, or ignore me.
REFLECTION: God’s love, coupled with His grace and mercy, form a triangle of unrivaled power in our lives.