1 Corinthians 13:8-13 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Love never fails. All else might fail us. Our spiritual understanding and our giftings might fail us. Even our knowledge of what is might fail us. But God who is love will never fail us. In the spiritual sense, love holds all creation together for God is the Creator. He is the entity who spawned life as we know it; we see his love in the universe. Love is more than an emotion. Jesus said the law taught people to ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. (Matthew 5:43-45) For us, the word enemy connotes hatred, bitterness, betrayal. These are emotions that define an enemy, but Jesus says, God's love wipes those attitudes away. The love of God surpasses our limited human understanding. We see that when Jesus is on the cross, He prays, Father, forgive these people, because they don’t know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34) Stephen expresses the same forgiveness when he is stoned to death. Love is a heavenly property flowing from the heart of God. Maybe if we were caught up into paradise as was Paul's experience, we might come back with a better understanding of love. But I do know that I was caught up into paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be told. (2 Corinthians 12:4) Undoubtedly, love in the perspective of heaven remains beyond our concepts to explain with our words. Words tend to fail us when we try to define God, the unimaginable in a world guided by the senses. Who can understand or explain God with our limited vocabulary and concepts. Talking about our final heavenly dwelling the scriptures say, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Corinthians 2:9) God, our heavenly home, and God's divine love are beyond our imagination. So we depend upon the Holy Spirit to teach us who God is, to prepare us for heaven, and to love God and others through us.
Our dependence upon God is complete. We look to him in all areas of life. Earlier in Paul's letter we read his rebuke to the Corinthians to stop looking to themselves for wisdom. He wrote: Stop fooling yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you will have to become a fool so you can become wise by God’s standards. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. (1 Corinthians 3:18-19) We often try to use the wisdom and knowledge of this world to explain spiritual realities in a way that is understandable to our natural minds. Attempts to make the spiritual coherent to the flesh are not inherently bad, for Paul says, Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. Attempting to understand the spiritual reality of love in its full glory is a futile journey for humans, for we are caught in the garment of the human senses. Assessing the realities of anything in our world is based on the limited perceptions of our senses. Knowledge as we know it, even spiritual knowledge as we perceive God and his domain, will be diminished by our human condition. Now I know in part! However, I shall know fully! When I am with Jesus in my final place of rest, I will know him as He is and I will be fully known. Love will be known fully at that time. Until then, we can say with Paul, I have been crucified with Christ. I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:19-20)
We are to express love as the children of God, depending upon Christ in us and the power of the Holy Spirit. Of course love is encased in our natural bodies, but we should allow it to flow through us in words and actions. John wrote: Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. (1 John 3:18) If our love is dependent on circumstances or situations, we will do only what the world does for others. If we give money expecting reciprocation in words or deeds, we will be exactly like the world. If we want a thank you from those we treat with love, we are operating just like the world. Jesus said, Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don’t be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. (Luke 6:35) We should give a cup of water to those who are thirsty, feed those who are hungry. When we do such acts to the least of these, we are serving Jesus. He is there in ALL OF THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES. Continue to love each other with true Christian love. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Don’t forget about those in prison. Suffer with them as though you were there yourself. Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own bodies. (Hebrews 13:1-3) Are you entertaining angels today by your actions of love? Are you empathetic to the person in jail, groaning in your spirit for fellow brothers and sisters who are imprisoned? Do you shed tears and feel pain in your own bodies as you pray for the abused and the neglected? Do you weep at night when you pray for the lost? The love of God is unimaginable to us, for it goes beyond our understanding, our way of living. However, we must put on Christ, ask for his heart of love, feel the pain He felt for a dying and suffering humanity. He went to the cross for them, for us. Touch us today, dear Lord.
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