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There is a plaque on the wall in my bathroom that my daughter-in-law gave to me for Christmas several years ago. It’s a portion of scripture from 1 Corinthians 13:13 which states, “And now these three remain, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.“
It’s a very familiar scripture and I read it practically every time I go into that bathroom. However, on this particular morning, I thought for just a moment Shouldn’t faith be the greatest? After all, the scriptures say that “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).
But then I came to quickly realize that of course love is greater than even faith because it’s the love of the Father that gives us our faith in the first place (Romans 12:3).
It takes faith to believe in Christ, but without His love, faith wouldn’t even exist.
Where did all the love go?
Today we are witnessing bold demonstrations of hatred toward the Jewish people because of their race. We also see mounds of hatred between political parties, religions, and other groups who have differing world views. It seems we can no longer agree to disagree. We must now hate our opponents.
I could fill this post with many details of the types of hatred we see and experience every day. But, I don’t have to tell you, because it’s all too familiar every time we open our social media feed or turn on our TV.
Hate toward others only breeds destruction and more hate. But, in this post, I’d like to expand on all that love can do!
Love overlooks an offense
We all make mistakes. We mess up either intentionally or unintentionally, but a good friend or relative that loves us not only overlooks; but covers the offense. He doesn’t go blabbing to other people when he’s been wronged.
A good example of this in the Bible is the story of Jacob. His brothers sold him into slavery and told their father he was dead. Years later when Jacob was a top official in Egypt, his brothers came to him for food because of famine in their land. They didn’t recognize him, but Jacob recognized them. He could have told everyone in the king’s palace the horrible thing his brothers had done to him and had them thrown into prison or killed. But he didn’t. He kept the offense between him and his brothers and even showed them love and forgiveness.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs
Proverbs 10:12
Love reproduces itself
Just like God’s love prompted Him to create mankind, parents’ love for each other causes them to want to have children. We were all conceived in love.
It’s the love of God that causes everything from plant life to the animal kingdom to reproduce continually after its own kind so that we have everything needed to sustain life on earth.
Love sacrifices
We see this in a parent’s love for their child. Parents will go without sleep, food, new clothing, or anything else they need to make sure their child has what they need.
I remember the first time I experienced this degree of sacrificial love toward another. My first daughter was two weeks old and had to go to the doctor for a blood test. They had to prick her toe and squeeze it to get blood out. She was screaming in pain and everything in me wanted to take her place; and if there was any way on earth that I could, I would have. This was the first time in my life that I had ever wanted to take someone else’s pain.
Love sacrifices for our spouse and our friends. We compromise because we love our spouse when we let them have their way during a disagreement. The Bible calls this not seeking our own (1 Corinthians 13:5).
We sacrifice for others when we see a need and we donate our time or resources to help. Love does without so that someone else can do better. Americans are the most generous givers in the world. We rush to freely give when tragedy strikes a region of our nation or another nation. We help the less fortunate through multiple charity organizations, and we support our churches. I remember while being in Rome seeing a young boy without legs riding along on a skateboard begging for money. We never see that in the US because we take care of our handicapped.
1 Corinthians 13 has a lot more to say about love, and frankly, some of these statements are not that easy to live out.
Love doesn’t envy
How cool would it be to never envy another person’s gifts, abilities, or material possessions? We could open up our Facebook feed and genuinely feel happy for every person there and all they have. The truth is that when we are envious, we are usually just envious about one part of the other person’s life – their vacation, home, or success, etc. The next time you start to feel that twinge of envy toward another, stop to think if you would trade your entire life and all you have for theirs. You probably wouldn’t. You’ll then be instantly more thankful for what you have!
Love is patient
Practicing patience is hard when circumstances intrude on what we want to do. I get impatient when I get behind slow people driving on a two-lane road, walking down a narrow hall, or at the checkout. When we are impatient, we are thinking about our own needs and desires above someone else’s.
The Bible also tells us to be patient toward sinners and those who don’t yet know the Lord by having compassion and praying for them. We didn’t decide to become a Christ follower overnight. Sometimes it takes years for someone to have that revelation of Christ.
Love is kind
I recently heard a pastor say that being a Christian is more than doing random acts of kindness. He’s right. It certainly is! That said, kindness goes a long way in showing the love of Christ. Those who love don’t act like a jerk and they look for the best in other people. My dad always told me to “Treat other people as you want to be treated.” That’s some of the best life advice one can get.
Love rejoices in truth
Some go to great lengths to destroy someone they don’t like by spreading falsehoods about them. This behavior is listed in Proverbs 6:19 as one of the seven things that God hates.
Love isn’t boastful
No one likes an arrogant person. “Before honor is humility” (Proverbs 15:33b).
What if?
Of course, there are plenty of things to hate in the world including injustice, murder, sexual immorality, abortion, idolatry, thievery, child trafficking, and the unique sins in our own lives. But while God instructs us to hate sin, he never tells us to hate other people. He even goes so far as to say Love your enemies and pray for those who mistreat us (Matthew 5:44). That is hard to do and I believe it can only be accomplished with the Lord’s help. But if Jesus commanded us to do it, it can be done. However, love never means approval of evil deeds.
In conclusion
There are over 750 verses in the Bible related to love. We all want to be loved, but we don’t always want to act lovingly.
Matthew tells us that in the last days, there will be so much iniquity in the earth that the love of many will grow cold. People will just be fed up with all the evil behaviors around them and find it harder and harder to love others.
There may not be much we can do about the increasing iniquity in the world, but we can control the amount of love in our hearts by praying for our enemies, practicing patience, and being humble, truthful, and kind.
Without a doubt, faith is necessary, hope is needed, but the greatest of these is Love!
Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7
