The Greatest is Love

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV

There are many thoughts, philosophies, movies, songs, books, even religions based on love. Love is everywhere! Or is it…?

 How much does God love you? So much that He not only describes it in great detail here, but He demonstrated it perfectly through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This is no ordinary love; it is AGAPE love. The unconditional, sacrificial love that only God has for us, and only He can produce in the life of a Christian.

Before Paul tells what love is in this chapter, he explains what it is not. In verses 1-3, Paul does much like Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus dismantles the Jews’ practice of giving, prayer, and fasting—not to dismiss these practices in and of themselves, but to show how meaningless they are when done in the wrong spirit. In much the same way, Paul begins to strip apart their religion—the outward ways in which they served God with their mouths, but not with their heart.

Paul specifically mentions speaking in tongues, prophesying, having ALL knowledge and understanding, and even having ALL faith. Imagine THAT worship service!! Then imagine it not even raising one hair on one eyebrow in heaven. Why? Because it lacks the one thing that makes it pleasing to God… LOVE. Don’t you see why we need God? Even our best worship can be freely expressed with the wrong heart. If you took away your “religion” this week, what would you be left with spiritually?

So now faith, hope, and love abide… and I sure do need all three to make it through the day! Won’t it be great when we won’t need the first two? One day I will not need faith. I will have no need for hope. And I will forever abide in His love.