Years ago a young woman volunteered to be a missionary in Mexico. Her heart was filled with love for the people she served there. In fact, she made a notation in the margin of her Bible next to the love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. She wrote: “Love for the Mexicans.”
Whenever she read 1 Corinthians 13, she read it this way: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love for the Mexicans, I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” Her love for the people of Mexico enabled her to win many of them to Jesus Christ.
After years of unselfish service she became gravely ill. Not long before her death, her Mexican friends gathered tearfully around her sickbed to say farewell. Before she died, she asked them not to bring flowers to her funeral, but instead to bring Bibles to give away.
They did this. Bibles and New Testaments were stacked around her casket. Later her friends gave them to those who did not have a copy of the word of God. Even after her death her witness was carried on in the lives of the people she had loved to the Lord.
The love described in 1 Corinthians 13 is not natural, it is supernatural. Romans 5:5 says it is only possible “because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us.” The apostle John wrote, “This is the message you heard from the beginning: we should love one another” ( 1 John 3:11). Love is one of the main evidences that a person is a real Christian (1 John 3:14).
1 Corinthians 13 is majestic in its poetic expression. It is also convicting in its application. It describes what family life, church life, and community life can be when people put love into action.
The priority of love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
Without love, eloquence becomes dissonance. The languages of earth and heaven spoken without love, would sound like a clanging discord. Spiritual gifts, as desirable as they are, are useless without love. Even unselfish acts, without loving motives, are unprofitable.
The practice of love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
Here is the clearest description of love to be found anywhere. This is love in action. We would recognize real love if we saw it. And we have seen it in the life of our Lord Jesus. These verses describe Jesus and any who would live as he lived.
One who acts in a loving way will be slow to anger (James 1:19) and gracious. Loving persons will not have exaggerated opinions of themselves. Love produces actions that are appropriate, tactful, above reproach. Love is not selfish. It is not easily offended or irritable. Love forgives and does not keep score of wrongs.
Loving actions are always consistent with truth and justice (1 John 3:17-18). Love takes no pleasure in wrong. Love suppresses evil reports and gossip. It always has an ear for good words. It believes the best about other people. Love causes one to be optimistic and courageous.
The permanence of love (1 Corinthians 13:8-9)
Paul is telling his readers that prophecies, tongues and knowledge as special manifestations will soon pass away. Love will endure forever.
The presence of love (1 Corinthians 13:10-12)
“When perfection comes” may refer to the eternal state when the Lord makes “all things new” (Revelation 21:5) and “the imperfect disappears.” The New Testament often uses the word “perfect” to refer to the second coming of Jesus Christ. This life is like childhood. Eternity with Christ is like maturity. This life is like a first century mirror of polished metal, an imperfect reflection. But in eternity we shall see Christ himself, the perfect embodiment of love, “face to face,” and enjoy his presence forever.
Pastor Randy Faulkner