Today's Reading:
Thoughts and Commentary on Today's Reading
Today, we read 1 Corinthians 13 - the Love Chapter. Keith Krell wrote an online article on 1 Corinthians 13, which is titled, "Love Knows No Limits". The following is quoted from that article:
A Peanuts cartoon shows Lucy standing with
her arms folded and a stern expression on her face. Charlie Brown
pleads, “Lucy, you must be more loving. This world really needs love.
You have to let yourself love to make this world a better place.” Lucy
angrily whirls around and knocks Charlie Brown to the ground. She
screams at him, “Look, Blockhead, the world I love. Its people I can’t
stand.”
I’m sure we all feel that way from time to time, and
some of us feel that way most of the time. Maybe you feel that way
right now. Loving the world in general isn’t that difficult; loving the
people around us can be a major challenge. In 1 Corinthians 13,
we find one of the most beautiful and familiar chapters in the Bible.
This chapter is typically read at weddings and anniversary celebrations.
It has even been set to music. Yet, this was never the original intent.
Instead, Paul was writing a rebuke to a dysfunctional church for their
abuse of the spiritual gifts. Typically though, this understanding is
often ignored. Consequently, I wonder if most Christians have truly
pondered the deeper meaning of this passage.
Have we heard this
Scripture so often that we no longer think about what the words mean? I
would suggest that if we ignore the context of this chapter we are in
danger of missing its major impact.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul will argue that love is an action, not an emotion.
The kind of love Paul will talk about is seen, experienced, and
demonstrated. This is contrary to our culture that honors personal
feelings above almost everything. We do what we want when we want
because we “feel” like it. And if we don’t “feel” like it, we don’t do
it. But as I study this passage, I am struck by the complete absence of
any stress on personal feelings. Hence, if love is an action, not an emotion,
we need to study what God has to say about love. We need to know what
love is and what it looks like when it is lived out in the church. In these thirteen verses, Paul provides three distinctions of love.
1. Love is greater than any spiritual gift (13:1-3).
In these three verses, Paul mentions six spiritual gifts: tongues,
prophecy, knowledge, faith, giving, and martyrdom. The first four gifts
are listed in 12:8-10. The gift of giving is among those mentioned in Rom 12:8.
Martyrdom does not occur anywhere else as a spiritual gift, but by its
association with the other five gifts here, we can add it to the
spiritual gifts God gives to His church. Paul kicks off 13:1 with the gift of tongues when he writes, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”
Some Bible students seem to have missed Paul’s point here and have
interpreted him as speaking merely of eloquence in human speech, but
clearly he is referring to the gift of tongues. After all, the last
gifts mentioned in chapter 12 are tongues and the interpretation of
tongues. And those same gifts are the main topic of chapter 14. It is
quite logical, then, that Paul begins the intervening chapter by
discussing tongues. The use of tongues that Paul is speaking of here is
the gift of speaking a private prayer language. Paul says you can speak in tongues all you want, but if you don’t have love you are merely making a lot of noise.
In 13:2-3, Paul mentions five more spiritual gifts when he writes, “If
I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge;
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have
love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor,
and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it
profits me nothing.”
Prophecy refers to the ability to declare God’s
truth in a powerful, life-changing way. Knowledge involves the deep
understanding of the Word of God. Faith is the unique ability to trust
God for great things. These three gifts are all from the Holy Spirit,
and yet without love the person who has them is “nothing.”
Verse 3 poses
a problem because it asks us to ponder activities that we automatically
consider noble. Giving to the poor is a good thing to do. And dying for
your faith in Christ is the ultimate sacrifice. But as good as these
things are, without love they do you no good. Paul declares that the
greatest expression of spirituality is love. We could summarize these
three verses like this: Without love…I say nothing, I am nothing, and I
gain nothing.
Clearly, we must have love when we are exercising
our spiritual gifts. So stop for just a moment and reflect on your
spiritual gifts and your ministry in the local church. Do you do what
you do out of genuine love for people? Or do you serve out of a sense of
obligation? Do you serve because of the satisfaction you derive from
ministry? Do you minister because you like honing your skills? Although
no one has perfectly pure motives, we ought to be seeking to grow in our
love quotient. Paul says that love is an action, not an emotion; therefore, we need to put feet to our love.
[After talking about the importance of love, Paul now will discuss how love behaves.]
2. Love is expressed by supernatural responses (13:4-7). Love
is a word that can only be properly defined in terms of action,
attitude, and behavior. Paul has no room for abstract, theoretical
definitions; instead, he wants us to know what love looks like when we
see it. Thus, he paints fifteen separate portraits of love. Yes, that’s
right: in the space of four short verses Paul uses fifteen verbs, all of
which have “love” as their subject. Our contemporary definition of love
is that it is an emotion or a feeling—we love our jobs, we love
football, we love pizza. In the biblical definition of agape, love acts, for love is an action, not an emotion. Verse 4 begins by summarizing the unselfish nature of love.
1) Love is patient. The Greek language
has several words for “patience.” One signifies patience with
circumstances while another is used only in reference to patience with
people.7
The Lord knows we need both kinds of patience, but it is this second
word that is found here. The KJV renders this word “long-suffering.” I
like this! Paul seems to be saying that love doesn’t have a short fuse.
It doesn’t lose its temper easily. A person who exercises agape love does not lose patience with people. Love never says, “I’ll give you just one more chance.” Love is patient.
The longer that I am in pastoral ministry, the
easier it is for me to be patient with others. With every passing year, I
recognize more fully that I sin against God and others. As God humbles
me with my own sinful shortcomings, I find it easier to exercise greater
patience with others. Loving people are willing to tolerate the
shortcomings of others because they know they have faults too. As you
mature do you feel more and more patient or do you feel you are growing
more and more crotchety? God wants you and me to grow in patient love
for those whom we minister to and with.
2) Love is kind. Patience
must be accompanied by a positive reaction of goodness toward the other
person. Kindness, however, is not to be equated with giving everyone
what he or she wants. Sometimes love must be tough. In the context of
the church, kindness may mean forcing an addict to go through the hell
of withdrawal. Kindness may mean saying no to a spoiled child. Kindness
may mean reporting a crime committed by a friend. Kindness means to
withhold what harms, as well as give what heals. Love is kind, but often
tough. Paul followed the two positive expressions of love with eight verbs that indicate how it does not behave.
3) Love is not jealous.
Jealousy implies being displeased with the success of others. Yet, true
love desires the success of others. The best way to cure envy is to
pray sincerely for the one of whom you are jealous. To pray for him or
her is to demonstrate love, and jealousy and love cannot exist in the
same heart.
4) Love does not brag. The root word for “brag” in Greek is very picturesque and is closest to our English word, “wind-bag.”
Love is not an egotistical blowhard. Love is not big-headed but
big-hearted. This means the more loving you become, the less boasting
you need to do. The greater your spiritual gifts, the less prone you
should be to brag. After all, the gifts you have been graciously given
are from God. When you and I brag, we are demonstrating our insecurity
and spiritual immaturity. Paul states that bragging is the converse of
biblical love. Hence, we should pursue Christ so that we will be humble
before Him and others.
5) Love is not arrogant.
The term “arrogant” refers to a grasping for power. It is more serious
than bragging, which is only grasping for praise. Arrogant people push
themselves into leadership, using people as stepping-stones, and always
consider themselves exempt from the requirements on mere mortals.
Arrogance disrespects others and carries a distain for others. God calls
us to serve others and be gracious toward them.
6) Love does not act unbecomingly.
This word is best translated “rude.” There are some Christians who seem
to take delight in being blunt, justifying it on the grounds of
honesty. They will say, “I’m just telling it like it is.” But love
doesn’t always tell it like it is; it doesn’t always verbalize all its
thoughts, particularly if those thoughts don’t build others up. There is
a graciousness in love which never forgets that courtesy, tact, and
politeness are lovely things.
7) Love does not seek its own. Love is
the very antithesis of insisting upon one’s own rights. Needless to
say, this is a rare quality today. Ours is a society in which
self-seeking is not only tolerated, it is even advocated. You can go to
any bookstore and pick up titles like, Winning Through Intimidation, Looking Out for Number One, or Creative Aggression.
But a self-absorbed narcissistic person cannot act in love. Love is not
possessive, demanding, stubborn, or dominating. Love does not talk too
much but listens as well. Love does not insist on its own way. It is always willing to defer to others.
8) Love is not provoked. Love is not
given to emotional outbursts, is not exasperated by petty annoyances,
and refuses to let someone else get under one’s skin. But, you say, when
someone else provokes me, it’s not my fault. Yes it is. We don’t
have to get irritated, and if we were exercising love, we wouldn’t. One
English version translates this virtue, “Love is not touchy.” Do you
know people who are so quick to take offense that you have to handle
them with kid gloves? You try to avoid talking to them and when you can
avoid it no longer, you carefully measure every word you say to make
sure that you say exactly what you mean. But still the person seizes
upon something and twists it to make you look bad. That kind of person
knows nothing of agape love, for love is not touchy.
9) Love does not take into account a wrong suffered.
Paul uses the normal word here for bookkeeping. Love does not keep a
ledger of evil deeds. It doesn’t write down each injury done and keep
the account open to be settled someday. I know some people who are
accomplished bookkeepers in regard to injuries sustained. Love doesn’t
hang on to reminders of wrongs. Who are you keeping a book on? Are there
some ledgers you need to go home and toss in the fireplace?
10) Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness.
One of the reasons I detest watching the news is that the bulk of
stories concern people’s misfortunes and misdeeds. There is something in
our human nature which causes our attention to be drawn to murder
trials, FBI probes, natural disasters, and human tragedies. Love is not
like that. Love takes no joy in evil of any kind. It takes no malicious
pleasure when it hears about the inadequacies, mistakes, and sins of
someone else. Love is righteous. Now, after eight sobering negatives
come five glorious positives:
11) Love rejoices with the truth. When
I was in seminary, I studied an ethical system Joseph Fletcher labeled
Situation Ethics. Fletcher taught that any action—whether lying,
adultery, or even murder—can be moral if it is done in love. However, I
would argue that if an action does not conform to the truth of God’s
Word, it can’t be done in love. Truth and love go together like
hand in glove. Truth must make our love discriminating, and love must
make our truth compassionate and forgiving. If our actions are in accord
with agape love, we will always welcome biblical truth, never resist it.
12) Love bears all things. The phrase
“bears all things” comes from a Greek word meaning to cover something.
It is related to the word for roof—a covering that offers protection
from the hostile elements. 1 Peter 4:8
says that love covers a multitude of sins. That is precisely the
meaning here. Love protects other people. It doesn’t broadcast bad news.
It goes the second mile to protect another person’s reputation.
There are two very relevant applications: First,
love doesn’t nitpick. It doesn’t point out every flaw of the ones you
love. Second, love doesn’t criticize in public. This is perhaps Paul’s
primary meaning. Love doesn’t do its dirty laundry for the entire world
to see. That’s why I cringe whenever I hear a husband humiliating his
wife in public or a wife making snide remarks about her husband. I
always think, if they do that in public, what do they do in private? As a
friend of mine once told me, “There are many times in my life when I’ve
been sorry I opened my mouth. But there has never been a time I’ve been
sorry I kept silent.” When it comes to needless criticism of other
people, that’s excellent advice
13) Love believes all things. Love is
always ready to allow for extenuating circumstances, to give the other
person the benefit of the doubt, to believe the best about people. Many
of us have developed a certain distrust of people because of negative
experiences. We have heard stories about how the person who stopped to
help a motorist in distress was robbed or even murdered. We have been
warned never to loan money to someone without a legal document
guaranteeing repayment, even if the other guy is a Christian. But there
are worse things than gullibility–namely suspicion and mistrust. Love
always trusts. It is also useful to remember that even in a court of law
the accused person is always “innocent until proven guilty.”
Love says,
“I am willing to wait for the evidence to come in before making my
decision. I choose to give you the benefit of the doubt as long as there
is reason to do so.” Some of us treat our loved ones in nearly the
opposite way: “You are guilty until you prove you are innocent.”
I do not tire of repeating that people tend to
become what we believe them to be. They either live up to or down to
your expectations. If you treat a man as trustworthy, he will strive to
prove himself worthy of your trust. If you tell a child, “Take a big
swing. You can hit that ball,” he’ll go to the plate and swing like Babe
Ruth. If you treat your wife as if she is the most beautiful woman in
the world, she will be transformed before your very eyes. That’s what
Jesus did. To vacillating Simon, He said, “You are a rock.” To a
prostitute, He said, “Your sins are forgiven.” To a woman caught in
adultery, He said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” It is
the simple power of believing the best and not the worst about people.
14) Love hopes all things. The third
phrase in 13:7 tells us that love “hopes all things.” This is simply a
step beyond believing. The meaning is something like this: There are
times in life when you face situations so difficult that faith is not
possible. You would gladly give the benefit of the doubt but there is
none to give. You search for the silver lining but the angry clouds
overhead have no silver lining. Love has a positive forward look. Paul
is not here advocating an unreasoning optimism, which fails to take
account of reality. Nor is he just teaching the power of positive
thinking. But he is suggesting that love refuses to take failure as
final, either in oneself or in someone else.
Love never gives up on
people. And the reason the believer can take such an attitude is that
God is in the business of taking human failures and producing spiritual
giants out of them. And He can do it with you or your child or that
impossible kid in your S.S. class. Of course, “always hoping” doesn’t
mean that we sit back and just watch God do His thing. Rather it means
that we get actively involved in the process as He molds the future
according to His perfect plan. Love hopes and expects the best. Love
never loses faith in other people and gives up on them but remain
faithful to them, in spite of their shortcomings.
15) Love endures all things. The word
“endures” is a military term that means to hold a position at all costs,
even unto death, whatever it takes. The battle may be lost but the
soldier keeps on fighting to the very end. The word pictures an army
surrounded by superior forces, being attacked and slowly overwhelmed on
every side. One by one your comrades fall at your side. Through the
noise of battle comes one final command: “Stand your ground, men. And if
necessary, die well.” So love holds fast to people it loves. It
perseveres. It never gives up on anyone. Love won’t stop loving, even in
the face of rejection. Love takes action to shake up an intolerable
situation. Love looks beyond the present to the hope of what might be in
the future.
No one can have a totally happy conscience after reading through these fifteen expressions of love.
We are the opposite of 13:4-7 on every point.
However, this love list defines God’s gift of Himself in Yahshua Christ.
If you go back through these verses and everywhere you find the word
“love” substitute the word “Christ,” all these statements will still be
true. The kind of love being described is love that has its source in
God, and as we look at each of the phrases it becomes obvious that we’re
defining a lifestyle that really is beyond our human reach. It is
absolutely impossible unless we abide in Christ and ask Him to live His
supernatural love in and through us. If you have never believed in Jesus
Christ as your Savior, will you do so today? Not only will He give you
the gift of His eternal love, but He will allow you to love the way God
intended.
[Love is greater than any spiritual gift and love is expressed by supernatural responses. Now we will see that…]
3. Love is an eternal gift (13:8-13).
In these final six verses, Paul will discuss the temporary nature of the
spiritual gifts and the eternal nature of love. In 13:8, Paul talks
about the temporary nature of gifts when he writes, “Love never
fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if
there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be
done away.”
When
Paul says, “Love never fails,” he means love never ends. The synonym
for this expression is “love abides” in 13:13. These phrases serve to
bookend this final section where Paul argues that the spiritual gifts
will be done away with one day.
