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Love is…
It is Valentines Day on 14th February. It is a day when love is centre stage
and people express their feelings for one another. Red roses will be brought in
their millions. For some it is a difficult day, perhaps because they are not in
a relationship or because the love of their life has died.
Whatever our circumstances, when love is centre stage it is edifying and
encouraging to turn to what the Bible has to say about it. A classic New
Testament passage on love is in Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth.
Paul writes one of the most lyrical and beautiful things in the Bible. It is
a hymn of love and therefore perfect for this month.
Paul wrote these words to a church that was obsessed with some of the gifts
that God had given it but had missed the foundation of the Christian life…love.
I want to draw out three truths from Paul’s words and encourage us to take
them as a foundation for our lives and relationships:
- love is a necessity – because Paul’s words about love are
so lyrical we could be mistaken for thinking that love is an abstract
quality, hard to define and is just somehow there. Love is not simply a
wispy, romantic or fragile feeling. For Paul, love is a real and concrete
reality. For Paul love was most evident in the actions of Christ – coming
into our world to be alongside us and to give his life for us.
In our lives love should not be an ideal or purely the motivation for what
we do. Love must be what we do and who we are. In our relationships we
should do things out of love for one another. Seek actions that affirm our
love for one another. This will bring to life for people the love that God
has for them. In this way love is our necessity, our behaviour, our being.
This is very Christ-like and therefore the way of life that is beyond
compare.
- love is dynamic – Paul uses 15 verbs to describe the
character of love. His description of love transcends his context and speaks
to us today. This love is not self-seeking. Our culture can encourage us to
focus on ourselves in the pursuit of happiness. In the Christian life
finding happiness is not the highest goal or promise of faith. The highest
goal is loving one’s neighbour. The love we are called to in our lives is
both passive and active. It is patient (the passive part) and kind (the
active part). A shorthand approach to this is to seek to give love and not
to get it.
- love is permanent - the love Paul talks about lasts into
eternity – it is indestructible because it is given by God through Christ.
Things in life come and go and yet we can get obsessed with our needs the
desires of the moment. This love is different. It builds us up and is
permanent.
Relationships built on this understanding of love become an outward sign of
the inner working of God’s grace. It is something we can see and experience that
communicates the inner truth and beauty of God’s love.
Neil Warwick
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