1 Corinthians 13: 1-7

In the New Testament, the word Agape –is used 137 times as a verb and 116 times as a noun. It is therefore at least as important to be loving as it is to feel love. We were created to be social beings.

The Apostle Paul has just finished speaking about spiritual gifts – the foundation of the body of Christ. He was writing to the Corinthian church.  A church that was divided. There were rival groups fighting for attention and power while more serious issues were being ignored. Not unlike today in our churches.

If I speak in the tongues of men/women, and of angels but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres.

It’s important to notice this because the prior gifts – prophecy, wisdom, charity, for example – are the ones that get the most attention in the world. But Paul notes that if we don’t have love, the most basic of gifts, all the other gifts are meaningless. As explained by Chaplain Samuel Blair.

In marriage, we see the romantic side of love, the love of one for another. It should not be just a feeling or emotion, but it is something that one does.

Love is not cheap, it costs something. It often doesn’t come easily to us, because of that cost. Perhaps that’s why it can be hard sometimes to live this way and to lay our lives down sacrificially for others. It should not always be about Me.