What is Going to Change the World We LIve In? 1 Corinthians 13

1 Corinthians 13 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Chapter 13 in 1 Corinthians is one of the most profound writings of our Apostle Paul.  I have used it at almost every wedding I have performed, as there is no better description of the kind of love it will take to create a great marriage.  Paul inserts this chapter in between chapters 12 and 14, where he is explaining the importance of spiritual gifts.  The Corinthians had gotten prideful when it came using to the most extraordinary gifts, like speaking in tongues.  So Paul needs to bring them back down to earth and remind them without love all of the spiritual gifts amount to nothing.  Paul even says if we give all we possess to the poor, but do it without love, we gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Now Paul describes what "true love" looks like.  The Greek word for love is "agape", which is the same word the bible uses for the sacrificial love Jesus showed us when he died for our sins on the cross.  Though Jesus didn't deserve to die for his own sin, he willingly died a cruel and torturous death on the cross because of his great love for us.  Importantly, Paul shows that love is a behavior based in action.  Though love produces feelings it is rooted in actions and character traits which create those feelings.  What love looks like is similar to the fruits of the Spirit Paul describes in Galatians 5.  I.e. patience, kindness, gentleness.  This helps us to understand why the only way we can consistently and truly demonstrate "agape" Christlike love is through the power of the Holy Spirit.  This is why without the power of the Holy Spirit working in each spouse's life, a marriage marked by this kind of love is doubtful at best.  This is what the bible means when it refers to marriage as "two becoming one".  It is the oneness we have in Christ and mutual fellowship of the Holy Spirit that strengthens and preserves a marriage.  True unconditional love is what we all need more than anything, and we can't give it to each other without the power of Christ working in us. 

8 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. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 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 the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a 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. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

What an incredible promise.  Love never fails.  You might say, "I see loving failing all the time!"  Is that human love or God's love.  Most likely it is human love, which comes from flawed human beings like you and I.  The root of our sinful nature is selfishness. It's all about "me, me, me".  Try being married to someone where it is all about "them, them, them."  It will make for a lonely marriage.  Remember though that we are all imperfect and immature in our expression of true Christ-like love.  This is why Paul describes us as children.  We see things like children and act like children, but when we learn how to truly love people the way God loves us we become mature.  There is a time to put our childish ways behind us.  For some of us that takes longer than others.  Some people never grow up.  It is interesting that to become a mature Christian is synonymous with become a mature and loving person.  True maturity is the ability to give yourselves for the good of others.  

If you look at our world right now we see a huge lack of agape love in our society.  People are not kind, patient or self controlled.  Most are not humble but easily angered and quickly able to point out the flaws of others but not look in the mirror at themselves.  Though it is easy to cast aspersions on the world and the people around us who are different from us, if we want to change the world it starts with us. It starts with our own relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  It starts by living by the power of the Holy Spirit, rather than our own sinful nature.  Love is not perfect because it comes from imperfect people like you and me. But Good News is we can grow in our ability to become mature like Jesus was.  If Jesus is our model, we see how his love never failed.  It never failed when he went to a cross willingly and sacrificially so that we might live now free of sin and one day be delivered from this body of death and live with him eternally.  As the song says what the world needs now is "love sweet love".  But this love has its source in God the Father, its revelation in God the Son, and its working out in our lives through God the Holy Spirit. 

Where are you at in the process of maturity when you look at Paul's description of Christ-like love?  Are you growing in these character traits?  Do you rely on yourself for this growth or the power of the Holy Spirit?  Who knows you well enough to give you honest feedback on your view of yourself?  Remember we all fall short of God's standard of love, His Son, but we can grow in love as we follow His life in His power.