At Meredith’s wedding, her mother read a beautiful Scripture from 1 Corinthians. Often called “the love chapter” of the Bible, the thirteenth chapter sounded perfect for the occasion. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud” (v. 4). Listening, I wondered if modern brides and grooms knew what prompted the apostle’s stirring words. Paul wasn’t writing a love poem. The apostle penned a plea to a divided church in an effort to heal its raging divisions.
Simply put, the church at Corinth “was a mess,” says scholar Douglas A. Campbell. Seething problems included incest, prostitution, and rivalry among leaders. Lawsuits between members weren’t uncommon. Worship was often chaotic—with those speaking in tongues competing to be heard first, and others prophesying to look impressive (see 1 Corinthians 14).
Underlying this chaos, says Campbell, was “a basic failure in relating to one another in love.” To show the more excellent way, Paul preached love because “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” (13:8).
Paul’s loving reminders can certainly encourage a wedding party. May they also inspire all of us to live out love and kindness too.
By Patricia Raybon
REFLECT & PRAY
How do you show kindness and love in your relationships? How do you show love in the body of Christ?
Your love never fails, loving God, so please guide me in relating to all with the excellence of love.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
In 1 Corinthians 13, the well-known chapter of love so often recited at weddings, Paul defines love not as an emotion but as an action (vv. 4-8). These verses call to mind the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, also written by Paul. We can’t love as the apostle calls us to love without a relationship with Jesus and the work of the Spirit in our lives. This is the process of sanctification, whereby we grow to become more like God. Paul compares it to becoming an adult and leaving our childish ways behind (1 Corinthians 13:11-12). Just as we need to do today, the Corinthian church needed to learn to love as Christ called them to love and to use their gifts to serve others (see ch. 12). Spiritual gifts are temporary (13:8-12) and will disappear (v. 10), but “faith, hope and love” will remain and “the greatest of these is love” (v. 13).
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