02.10.2019 – “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

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 13:1-13

Anyone who reads 1 Corinthians 13 and thinks, ‘I hope I experience that kind of love relationship someday’, is missing the main point. The kind of love the apostle Paul is talking about isn’t just an irresistible romantic feeling; it’s a heartfelt desire to do what is best for another. This kind of love comes directly from God. It’s a love that is all about giving, not receiving. In marriage, this kind of love for your wife becomes a passion for her good.

Don’t think you can skate by on charm and romance alone. If you’re serious about achieving the standards of 1 Corinthians 13, you much unite yourself with Christ. You much trust in him, rest in him and bank on his strength. Only through his Spirit can you genuinely love your wife.