1 Cor.13:1-3 – If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2 If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. (The Message)
Lord Jesus, we need for this portion of your Word like oxygen and water. Without a heart of love, we are zeros, zilch, nada, empty, nothing. But this is the way you love us, and the way you are committed to love through us.
4 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” – Jesus, your patience is as limitless as your love is steadfast. Jesus, far from envying, you are lavish in your generosity. If you “boast,” you boast that we are yours, and there has never been one scintilla of pride in you—just incomparable humility of your incarnation and cross.
5 “It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” – You only honor us and will never shame us. You only seek Abba’s glory, have taken the judgment of our anger deserves, and have given us your record of perfect righteousness. Hallelujah, Jesus!
6 “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” – You delight in us, not in anything dark or evil—for you have come to eradicate all darkness and wickedness. And your rejoicing is full of truth, goodness, and beauty—because that is who you are.
7 “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” – No one protects us like you—even when we still feel vulnerable. You trust Abba on our behalf, for you are the Yes! to all his promises. We hope because you are our ever-living hope. We will persevere because you overcame for us, and will hold us fast all the way into the new heaven and new earth. Jesus, we love being loved by you. Love through us, to your glory. So Very Amen.
