By Mark Skalberg & DiAnna Steele
“Love is simple but it is never easy.”
Every living human entered this world with a longing to receive love and a capacity to give love. That’s part of what it means to be created in God’s image.
The Apostle Paul addressed the issue of love head on because the Corinthians of his day completely missed the mark on love. Intellectuals prided themselves for eloquent talk and rule-keeping, even made grand display of their sacrifices. But on matters of love they emerged bankrupt.
Not unlike Corinthians of Paul’s time, we miss the mark, too. In our previous blog, Love’s Illusions, we posed the question “What is love?” We examined cultural influences and considered several erroneous descriptions of love. So if love of pizza, sports teams and favorite articles of clothing isn’t the bull’s eye of affection, what is? If love songs and feelings don’t lead us to a deeper enduring devotion, what does?
Paul described the essence of love in three timeless truths we’ll explore with E’s.
First, Love Is Enriching.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 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 have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” I Corinthians 13:1-3
According to this passage all our efforts amount to nothing without love. People may speak with great eloquence and charisma but still irritate worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. We may possess a host of gifts, knowledge and faith to move mountains, but in the absence of love we’re spinning our wheels. Even self-sacrifice cannot produce gains love affords.
Earlier in Corinthians Paul admonished Corinthians that higher knowledge led to arrogance and their well known Greek wisdom led to quarrels and divisions. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” 1 Corinthians 8:1.
Paul’s intro to the Love Chapter makes clear the essentialness of love. Only love truly enriches our lives and relationships. Without love, nothing else matters.
Second, Love is Edifying.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” I Corinthians 13:4-7
Edify, from Latin “aedificare to instruct or improve spiritually”, means to make us better not simply smarter.
Consider how each of these descriptions edifies you. Focus on one characteristic of love you most require growth in. Do you need to practice kindness? Stop envying? Look for the best in others? Could you better demonstrate honor of others? Are you self-seeking or easily provoked to anger?
Love does not keep score, but always protects, trusts, hopes and endures hardship. Does this describe how you love?
Note: Paul doesn’t advocate for love to always believe only good about everything and everyone. Let’s face it we must love people even though they act pretty stupid and selfish at times. Paul’s point? Love never ceases to hope for better. Yes, God knows who we are, but also knows what we may become!
These descriptions vividly show us how love enables us to grow spiritually, leading to our edification.
Third, love is Enduring.
“Love never fails…and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:8,13
Paul illustrates love’s permanence in vs. 8, stating “love never fails”. The word fail means a full collapse or termination. Love cannot fail, it never ends. It’s an everlasting virtue. Feelings of love come and go but real love remains permanently. No matter how much we fail at love, Biblical love never fails us. God’s love is an endless reservoir for us to fully enjoy.
Paul also highlights love’s preeminence in verse 13. Why is love greater than faith and hope? Because love is foundational for everything else in life, including faith and hope. Biblical love fires faith and turns hope into certainty.
When we understand real love we realize how short we fall. No human demonstrates love as represented in the love chapter. In the real world a Grand Canyonlies between us and others, deep chasms producing pain and broken hearts despite our best intentions.
Unfortunately the E’s of love do not automatically translate into ease of love. But recognizing that God’s love is Enduring, knowing when we blow it love remains, we may commit ourselves to Love’s Edification which results in Love’s Enrichment of our lives and lives of those we love.
Bottom Line: Our ability to love comes only from love’s source! As we seek to bridge the loveless canyon between our hearts and others let’s remember God first built the bridge of love to us through His Son.
Our next helpful blog in this series will be Emotional Entanglement Between Men and Women. To order the audio messages of this series on CD you can order here. Your comments below are encouraged and appreciated!
