Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 13; 1-13
When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
THE MEDIA says that true love is what you get when the cutest Hollywood couples stroll up at the Oscars or the Emmys. It’s a box-office-busting actress in a show-it-all dress hanging on the arm of her equally box-office-busting man.
The love of Christ looks more than a little different from that. And God’s plan is that you display love far deeper than Hollywood romance.
You likely have heard 1 Corinthians 13-the love chapter of the Bible-read at weddings. But studying that passage is a fantastic way to look at Christ’s selfless love. Consider what the character of Christ looks like when you insert his name for the word love in verses one through eight:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not Christ, 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 have not Christ, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not Christ, I gain nothing.
Christ is patient, Christ is kind. He does not envy, he does not boast, he is not proud. He is not rude, he is not self-seeking, he is not easily angered, he keeps no record of wrongs. Christ does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Christ never fails.
There’s no comparison in the world to the perfection of Christ’s love. The astounding thing is that one of God’s goals is to build the love of Christ in you. In fact, if you are willing to stop thinking of yourself and allow God’s love to flow through you to others, you will receive the power to love as Christ loved.
Christ is God’s perfect love in person, and Christ lives in you. If you want to grasp the significance of God’s love operating in and through your life-and see what it would look like-copy 1 Corinthians 13 to a sheet of paper. And this time, put your name where Christ’s name is. Then read these lines to yourself several times as a prayer.
Christ’s love is more than a pattern for your life. It gives you the power that enables you to live a life of perfect love. If you know God and are filled with his power, the life of love he requires of you is an absolutely achievable possibility.
REFLECT: Say in your own words what Christ’s love looks like.
PRAY: God, fill me with the love of Christ so I can love others.
