1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Love Is the Greatest
What is Love? A fool thinks he knows it all. But a wise man keeps learning. His heart is meek, teachable and he can be instructed in the Word because he is not a ‘know it all’. He never despises others. He listens more than he speaks because he wants to be more knowledgeable. Let’s pretend you know nothing about love, never heard the word. Let the bible instruct us on what love really is. You will find that you need to unlearn all you thought you knew about a topic, to gain more insight into it. To grasp the truth behind it, so that when you speak, people will wonder at the wisdom coming from you. They will know that you are not an ordinary person but a sanctified vessel for the glory of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 13
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
The world is full of so many messages about love that one would almost wonder if that were all there is to love and on the other hand wonder if there were any need to say more about love. The messages about love today are so shallow, so limited and so untrue for the most part of it.
What kind of love do we see portrayed on our TV screens and hear on the radio etc? Is it the selfish love that thinks only about itself and what it can get from others or its the love that cares about others?
When you wonder if the media today has any conscience, they seem to almost reply’ Who cares any way? This is what the people like.
Many don’t even care about the overhyped media and its effects on the innocent minds of our youths.
Yet they complain about the violence, rape , corruption etc in society while giving it a conducive environment.
There is so much selfishness and self centeredness in the world but we don’t have to be like that. We are in the world but not of the world.
Its so easy to be hardened by the corruption in the world because everyone seems to be so greedy, everyone seems to be conceited.
But you can be different. Amazingly even a wicked person expects others to treat them kindly. This shows that, people in their hearts know what is right and good.
People still yearn for the truth. They still want the light even though they love darkness. They want to receive all the blessings of the Word but without it changing any aspect of their lives. The scripture describes such people as
‘Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof’
And then advises us
‘From such turn away.’
We need to turn away from such people because they are leeches.
At what time do you give back. You can’t keep taking without giving back. You can’t mess the fountain and expect clean water!
We need to make up our minds not to be selfish people: greedy for gain, lusty for popularity. Speaking lies and misleading truths for the sake of filty lucre.
It is not good for us. It is not good for others. A selfish man cannot help anyone even himself. Think about the good of others. Let’s repent of our wicked ways . Let’s humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that in due time he may exalt us. O what a Mighty God he is. He knows all the secrets of our hearts, all our intentions, all our motivations: good and bad, and he loves us.
Sometimes we want to do things our own way, because we think we have being hurt by others so we want to hurt others back, to get our pride back. But always, God shows us there s a higher way, a better way. He gently leads us in the way we should go guiding us in the paths of righteousness.
So lets be more concerned about others and how we can make the world better a better place. Instead of focusing on yourself, focus on others and God will focus on you!
