Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
- 1 Corinthians 13
We have spent February so far looking at attributes of agape love. Many of the characteristics we talked about may seem daunting and hard for you, and that's ok, because the final piece in those descriptions of agape is that is never fails. No matter how many times we fall, fail, or flounder, we will always have God's loving arms to run back to. He will never give up on us and will always love us, even if we don't love Him back. The definition of agape love is that. It is unconditional. This is a type of love that can only come from something bigger than us, and the greatest example by far is a God Who sacrificed for us. What other God is there who has done such things?
So as we wrap up this little series on Agape, let's consider one more time the words in 1 Corinthians 13 as a whole, because if one thing is clear, it's that without love, unconditional love, you get no where. You can possess all of the power and faith in the world, but still hit a wall without love.
We misuse the word "love" and give it a definition that doesn't fit. We have turned the word "love" into meaning to "accept", "affirm", or "approval", when that is not love at all. Agape love doesn't love because of what you do, but it loves because of of who God is. It loves because of the will it has to love, without strings attached. We fall off the wagon over and over and God still loves us, even if He doesn't agree with what we are doing. This world has made about earning and affirming.
The other day, my currently, kid-scissor-happy daughter cut a hole in our couch. I wasn't home, and I heard about it through a text. I can't lie, there was a moment I was utterly infuriated, but there wasn't a second I considered that I would ever stop loving her. I don't accept what she did. I don't affirm what she did. I don't approve of what she did. But I still love her. So why do we run around in this world thinking if we don't "accept", "affirm" or "approve" of one's behavior as an adult, that we don't love them? Or that we shouldn't love them? We've all cut a hole in the couch, so to speak, yet people still love us.
So if love is not affirming, or accepting, or approving, then what is it? It's 1 Corinthians 13. And if we are to actually grab onto this scripture like we truly mean it and we truly want to live it, then what? We read that without love, we have absolutely nothing. Without love we don't make a difference at all. Without love, we are simply annoying. And I hate to say it, but I know Christians like this. So why are we so afraid to love?
Why do we stand outside of the places we disagree with, or around the people we disagree with, making a statement, when we could be in relationships with those people we don't agree with or who have done something we don't agree with? What makes the bigger impact here? Picketing, marching, t-shirt wearing, and tract flailing, or taking time to understand a person and love on them despite the shame, despite the things we disapprove of in their lives, despite what other people say? Isn't this what Jesus did? Could you imagine if God's love was approval, acceptance, and affirming behaviors we do? None of us would be in His love. Why are we so afraid?
Love never fails. Not only in the sense that it never gives up, but in the sense that it is a solid "strategy". Without it, we are exclusive and we aren't difference-makers. Agape never fails. Unconditional, Christ-like love never fails.
Scripture to Read:
John 13:34-35, 1 Corinthians 13
Questions to Ponder:
How did Jesus love people who weren't "accepted" by society? How does Jesus love people who aren't always "accepted" by Christians? Name some examples. How does this speak to you?
What is a group of people that you don't agree with at all? How can you show love to someone you don't agree with? What difference does love and a relationship make?
Does your logic of love match up God's logic of love for all people? What needs to change in your logic?
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