“If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3, ESV)
“A young man said to his father at breakfast one morning, “Dad, I’m going to get married.”
“How do you know you’re ready to get married?” asked the father. “Are you in love?”
“I sure am,” said the son.
“How do you know you’re in love?” asked the father.
“Last night as I was kissing my girlfriend good-night, her dog bit me and I didn’t feel the pain until I got home.”” (bible.org)
The father asked his son a great question, “Are you in love?” The boy believed with his whole heart that he was in love with his girlfriend. Often, people will think they are “in love” only to realize that it wasn’t really love at all. It might have been lust. It might have been infatuation. It might have been loneliness or desire or insecurity or even greed that drove a person to think they were in love. Sadly, few people really understand the meaning of true love.
Wayne Hudson, who wrote Many a Tear has to Fall, pondered the question about love after a significant other stated that she didn’t love him anymore. Hudson, a devout Christian, had this to say: “When someone says, "I don't love you anymore,” it shakes you to your very core. It caused me to ponder the true meaning of love as never before. After many years, I arrived at the only definition that makes any sense. Since God is love and we must compare our love to him, we come up short if we define it any other way. For you see, in the final analysis, "Love is a commitment with a beginning and no end." Christ chose to love us, and he has never stopped. He never will. We should be very careful with a word like love. Are we willing to make that kind of commitment?”
Are you willing to make that kind of commitment with others and with God?
When Jesus said to his disciples, “Love one another”, He knew the meaning of “love”. He didn’t want His followers to love each other for a while, until there was an argument, or until they grew apart. Jesus wanted His followers to have a genuine love that could be counted on through thick and thin. Have you ever felt unconditional love from a fellow believer? Sadly, it is rare. We often do not know if a person will love us unconditionally. You might think a close Christian friends or family members will love you in all circumstances, such as if you lose your income, become paralyzed, make a mistake, lash out, or even wander away from the faith. BUT, will they come through? Can you be counted on to exhibit a genuine love?
Because there are a lot of “love counterfeits” in the world today which lack unconditional love and faithfulness, the scripture for today was written to clarify the true meaning of love. The Apostle Paul penned these words to the Corinthian church: “If I give away all that I have, and deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing.”( 1 Corinthians 13:3). At first, this verse doesn’t sound truthful. Who would give away everything with such a generous attitude? Who would give over his or her own body “to be burned”? Actually, there have always been Christians who did such things. Ascetic Christians always gave away their possessions, most often to the poor. Some religious orders in history even expected it of their followers. Also, in the first century when Paul wrote the scripture for today, Christians were being burned and stoned and torn apart by lions in the amphitheaters in the Roman Empire. If you look at those who gave away everything and even gave up their lives, you might think them supremely religious and utterly faithful. However, Paul begged to differ. Some of these Christians did not take their stand with a loving heart. Some did it to be recognized. Some did it out of obligation. Some just threw their lives away. Paul was making a very important point here: a person who seems religious can lack love. And without godly love, that person will “gain nothing” in the sight of God.
God can separate out those people who think they love others from those who really do. God is able to determine whether godly acts are done out of love or for other reasons. God knows whose love is unconditional. Do you place conditions on your love? Can you imagine if God did the same?
Just because God loves us unconditionally does not mean that God will never be able to pronounce judgment upon us. It does not mean that God will allow us to sin if we say we love Jesus. God will not be manipulated in such a way. In the same way, you should not let those who play loosely with love get by with abuse, neglect, manipulations, or denigration. Love does not mean you are always nice. It means you are supremely faithful and devoted to a godly relationship with others as with the Almighty.
As I write this on St. Valentine’s weekend, I beg to ask you for a favor. While the whole world celebrates different earthly traditions about love, could you to devote yourself to real love? I would like you to be God’s Ambassador of faithful love. Do you think you could accomplish that? Our world is dying for real, faithful, godly examples of love. Sadly, it is drowning in counterfeits...
“How do you know you’re ready to get married?” asked the father. “Are you in love?”
“I sure am,” said the son.
“How do you know you’re in love?” asked the father.
“Last night as I was kissing my girlfriend good-night, her dog bit me and I didn’t feel the pain until I got home.”” (bible.org)
The father asked his son a great question, “Are you in love?” The boy believed with his whole heart that he was in love with his girlfriend. Often, people will think they are “in love” only to realize that it wasn’t really love at all. It might have been lust. It might have been infatuation. It might have been loneliness or desire or insecurity or even greed that drove a person to think they were in love. Sadly, few people really understand the meaning of true love.
Wayne Hudson, who wrote Many a Tear has to Fall, pondered the question about love after a significant other stated that she didn’t love him anymore. Hudson, a devout Christian, had this to say: “When someone says, "I don't love you anymore,” it shakes you to your very core. It caused me to ponder the true meaning of love as never before. After many years, I arrived at the only definition that makes any sense. Since God is love and we must compare our love to him, we come up short if we define it any other way. For you see, in the final analysis, "Love is a commitment with a beginning and no end." Christ chose to love us, and he has never stopped. He never will. We should be very careful with a word like love. Are we willing to make that kind of commitment?”
Are you willing to make that kind of commitment with others and with God?
When Jesus said to his disciples, “Love one another”, He knew the meaning of “love”. He didn’t want His followers to love each other for a while, until there was an argument, or until they grew apart. Jesus wanted His followers to have a genuine love that could be counted on through thick and thin. Have you ever felt unconditional love from a fellow believer? Sadly, it is rare. We often do not know if a person will love us unconditionally. You might think a close Christian friends or family members will love you in all circumstances, such as if you lose your income, become paralyzed, make a mistake, lash out, or even wander away from the faith. BUT, will they come through? Can you be counted on to exhibit a genuine love?
Because there are a lot of “love counterfeits” in the world today which lack unconditional love and faithfulness, the scripture for today was written to clarify the true meaning of love. The Apostle Paul penned these words to the Corinthian church: “If I give away all that I have, and deliver up my body to be burned but have not love, I gain nothing.”( 1 Corinthians 13:3). At first, this verse doesn’t sound truthful. Who would give away everything with such a generous attitude? Who would give over his or her own body “to be burned”? Actually, there have always been Christians who did such things. Ascetic Christians always gave away their possessions, most often to the poor. Some religious orders in history even expected it of their followers. Also, in the first century when Paul wrote the scripture for today, Christians were being burned and stoned and torn apart by lions in the amphitheaters in the Roman Empire. If you look at those who gave away everything and even gave up their lives, you might think them supremely religious and utterly faithful. However, Paul begged to differ. Some of these Christians did not take their stand with a loving heart. Some did it to be recognized. Some did it out of obligation. Some just threw their lives away. Paul was making a very important point here: a person who seems religious can lack love. And without godly love, that person will “gain nothing” in the sight of God.
God can separate out those people who think they love others from those who really do. God is able to determine whether godly acts are done out of love or for other reasons. God knows whose love is unconditional. Do you place conditions on your love? Can you imagine if God did the same?
Just because God loves us unconditionally does not mean that God will never be able to pronounce judgment upon us. It does not mean that God will allow us to sin if we say we love Jesus. God will not be manipulated in such a way. In the same way, you should not let those who play loosely with love get by with abuse, neglect, manipulations, or denigration. Love does not mean you are always nice. It means you are supremely faithful and devoted to a godly relationship with others as with the Almighty.
As I write this on St. Valentine’s weekend, I beg to ask you for a favor. While the whole world celebrates different earthly traditions about love, could you to devote yourself to real love? I would like you to be God’s Ambassador of faithful love. Do you think you could accomplish that? Our world is dying for real, faithful, godly examples of love. Sadly, it is drowning in counterfeits...