Healing Rays of Righteousness

Read 1 Corinthians 13

One of the major misconceptions in today’s culture centers upon the definition of love.  Many people tend to define love according to psychological dispositions and sensual appetites.  People “fall in love,” a person might have a “lover,” or a couple might “make love.”  These fallacies are ultimately rooted in an egotistical understanding of how love satisfies the self.

Building on what I said in last week’s blog, I am convinced that Christian “agape” love is not a special gift which some Christians have and others do not.  But rather, Christian love is the indispensable requirement and expectation for all followers of Jesus Christ.

In his first letter, the apostle John stated plainly that the one sure way of knowing whether a person was really a Christian was whether he/she loved others (4:7-8) – “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

A few verses later, 16b and 19-20, John summarizes this theme – “God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.  …We love because he first loved us.  Whoever claims to love God yet hates his brother or sister is a liar.  For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”

But how do I know what is the character and behavior of this Christ-like love?  The apostle Paul answers that question by making it very clear in 1 Corinthians 13, that real love does not seek to satisfy selfish gratifications or to fulfill personal ambitions.  Instead, it is made visible by actions of enduring kindness toward others and is motivated by a righteous zeal for truth.

In this chapter, Paul describes how Christian love thinks and behaves toward others – all others.  For Paul, love is much more than cozy sentimental feelings, but rather is at the motivational core of clearly defined behaviors.

In verses 1 to 3, Paul sets love above all virtuous abilities and actions as “the most excellent way.”  Then in verses 4-7 he lists the visible ingredients of Christian love.

First, this love is “patient …kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast.”   It is said that jealousy is the most subtle of all demons.  It’s the first feeling we learn to disguise quite well.

Second, this love “is not proud … is not rude.”  An Englishman once said, “You can tell a true gentleman, not by how he behaves in the presence of his king, but by how he behaves in the presence of his maid servant.”  It is how we behave in the presence of those we think are inferior to us that shows what we really are in character.

Third, this love “is not self-seeking … easily angered …keeps no record of wrongs.”  Unfortunately, we humans are quick to keep score.  We save up our negative feelings and at an opportune time we let go with an outburst of retaliation and getting even.  Paul is saying that Christians do not store up negative feelings.  Rather, they forgive and forget the past act, the hurt feelings.

Finally, this love “does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.”  The Jerusalem Bible reads, “Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins.   …It is always ready to excuse.”  I’m fairly certain, that we all know the secret delight we get from someone else’s sin.  It’s so easy, so human, to look at other’s wrongdoings and feel a little less wicked by comparison.

But love also knows that we sometimes fail each other.  And when that happens, there’s only one healing, reconciling remedy – that is, to forgive.  To offer and receive forgiveness is a special, sacrificial form of love.  And so, this love “always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Paul then tells the Christians in Corinth, who were so enamored with spiritual gifts, that love is the supreme gift, the most important, the greatest thing in all the world, for it is the only gift, the only thing that will last forever – even into eternity.  All other gifts come to an end, but “Love never fails – love never ends.”

I hear the apostle Paul emphatically and unwaveringly declaring Christian “agape” love to be the greatest gift of all, and that to exercise this gift in all our relationships with others is “the most excellent way” to live in our churches and communities all day, every day.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – October 24, 2018