What is Christian Love?

1. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4. Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5. it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6. it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 7. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; 10. but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. 11. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. 13. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The verses resonate within me today! I find the rhythm of the verses almost like a song. I'm not going to ask the age-old question: "What is love?" So you don't need to worry about that! But really . . . what is Paul talking about here? "Love" is thrown around pretty loosely isn't it? I perhaps overuse it in my conversations about things in my life - but not about the people in my life!

When I tell someone I love them, I really mean it! It doesn't mean I want to run off with them somewhere! It doesn't mean I have an unhealthy attachment to them! It doesn't mean I have a romantic love for them! It means that my feelings for them have begun to approach what Paul talks about in this scripture. This love exists because of my seeing into the heart of someone, to know who they are at their core, to see their intrinsic worth as a child of God. It's not about the loveable-ness of the individual it's about their kinship with me as a Christian. It's about seeing them through the eyes of Christ - as a beloved, valued, unique creation of our Lord and Creator.

I don't always say, "I love you as a beloved, valued, unique creation of or Lord and Creator!" But that's what I mean. When we perceive "love" the way Paul defines it, we are able to live differently. Once I have embraced the type of love Paul describes, I rejoice at the successes of my friends and acquaintances. I'm not jealous of their accomplishments. I'm truly happy for them. I don't envy another's life or possessions; I'm truly glad they have a good life and are able to afford the luxuries they have acquired. I don't wish for a marriage like that of another couple, or for someone else's children; I thank God for my own family and rejoice at the tremendous gift God has given me in them.

Here comes the "but!" But . . . neither do I judge another because they speak with contempt about another's accomplishments. I understand that they have not fully experienced and internalized the love Christ shared with us and modeled for us. Nor do I look down on those who live a life full of envy and greed and a need to put others down. They have obviously been hurt and disappointed and hurt by others who have not been saved by the blood of Christ.

Oh, don't get me wrong - it's a pretty slippery slope when I talk about how "mature" I am in my faith and how I grasp Paul's words and embrace them as a lifestyle! These examples Paul provides, are goals-not facts! Sometimes I'm able to live a life of this kind of love - sometimes, I fall short. Sometimes I can remove myself from the equation - but sometimes I'm smack in the middle of it - or want to be - and don't deal with things the way I should. But we have an ideal, a model, and a goal to strive for. We need to remember the source of every good thing within us-and the price he paid for us. In light of that, it's hard to boast about ourselves. We have faith and hope because of God's love for us and the sacrifice of his son on the cross.

I hope today you'll remember the source of every good and perfect thing in your life. And that you'll love all of God's creatures from the bottom of your heart.