Real Love - Pt. 3

 

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. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. (1 Corinthians 13:4-10 ESV).

 

The Apostle Paul says, “… love trusts, love hopes, and love remains” (vv. 7-10). I have known many people who find themselves without the love of their life. In every one of those people there is a sense of loss that is very difficult to imagine. There have been a few times in recent years when I have been forced to confront my own fear of being left behind without Mary. One of my dear friends has experienced that grief with the death of his wife several years ago. I admire his strength of faith and enduring hope of being reunited with his love. I have counseled many people as they move through their grief.

 

This begs the question of what Paul was referring to when he wrote, “… love endures forever.” In fact, he also says. That love is greater than faith and hope. It is a real “head-scratcher” to know exactly what he means. He just makes the statement and leaves it to us to think it through. It may be that love, in comparison to faith and hope, describes the very heart of God. God does not need to exercise faith. And he does not need to hope because he already knows the future. Love is God’s nature. So when a person becomes a Jesus follower, a Christian, they not only receive God’s love; they also share in his divine nature. To the church at Rome Paul wrote, “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5). So whenever you and I love another person, we are displaying the very character of God. We are never more like God than when we love like He does.  

 

I also think the apostle is talking about the way we ought to approach love. It is so much more than mere physical attraction or emotional connection. It must be that attitude that drives us to serve the other. After all, isn’t this the example of Jesus? This is the essence of real love. It is not rooted in the other person as much as it is rooted in us. This creates that eternal link between people who love one another. That is the real nature of love.