Do you know about love?
Each of us have our own views of love because we know those we love and how special they make us feel. Because of that we tend to think of love as a verb, as in “I love you.” But love is more than that. So let’s learn about love.
The Apostle Paul traveled to Corinth to preach the good news. After he left, he sent the Corinthians two letters to remind them of his teachings. In the first letter, he explains what love is (1 Corinthians 13:1- 8):
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; love is not arrogant or rude.
Love does not insist on its own way; love is not irritable or resentful; love 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 fails.
We’ve all heard those words before, perhaps the most frequently used Bible verse for weddings. And they’re beautiful words that reflect what all marriages should be, a union of two people whose love for each other enables them to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.
But how can it be that love never fails? Failure is rampant in life, we’ve all experienced it. Yet, it’s true. The Apostle John tells us the reason it’s true when he writes (1 John 4:16):
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
John says simply that God is love. So if you re-read Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and replace John’s definition of God with love, you get a new appreciation of who God is and what He means:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have God, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have God, I am nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but do not have God, I gain nothing.
God is patient and kind; God does not envy or boast; God is not arrogant or rude.
God does not insist on its own way; God is not irritable or resentful; God does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
God never fails.
Where faith, hope, and love abide, there is God. And God never fails.
Now you know about love.