Day 145, 1 Corinthians 13
Yesterday, Paul exhorted us to desire gifts, and accept how God distributes those gifts across His body. Today we read one of the most well-known chapters of this letter.
Any spiritual gift, whether supernatural or social justice focused, is worthless without love (agape).
Paul goes on to describe love in twelve ways. This chapter was the text for the sermon at our wedding (as for many weddings) where the preacher referred to these qualities as twelve bottles of fine wine, not knowing that our honeymoon would be in a wine-growing region of southern France!
Imagine the impact of these words on the self-absorbed, competitive, hyper-spiritual Corinthians! Love trumps all. Better than prophecy, more impactful than words of knowledge, more enduring than supernatural tongues. Paul’s readers would have been deeply challenged by this tribute to love. Everything they value is incomplete, but love is greater. Faith , hope and love remain, and love is the greatest. For God so loved, that He gave…
I recommend the book “Agape and Eros” by Anders Nygren to unpack the vast difference between God’s unconditional, sacrificial agape love and our self-referential, conditional eros love.
As Paul concludes, agape is the greatest!
Have a great day!
Mark.