A couple days ago, I overheard a conversation about love. About how there is not enough love in the world nor knowledge of what it means. So how can we love? One woman noted that her idea of love was the giving of oneself.
Looking back, I wish I would have said something. I wish I would have told her about the greatest love I have ever known. A love that is alive and full of grace, one that is always relevant despite cultural norms or differences. A love that the world craves yet at the same time pushes away, clinging to shame and running away to hide its face.
In 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7, Paul writes about the attributes of love. And if God is love, that means He embodies each of these characteristics to the degree of perfection. ,
Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant or rude.
It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful;
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
If you ask me, these are some of the most beautiful verses I have ever read. Yet these words of wisdom and truth have been reduced to be only one of many alternatives. I pray that you feel the weight of their significance and reflection of Christ whenever you stumble upon them.
So what does it take to love? To put others before yourself. How can one truly love if self is at the center? Notice that these descriptions of love in 1 Corinthians are not stated for specified circumstances but rather for our day-to-day living. It does not say love is patient and kind if. It does not say when, either.
When it comes to living an abundant life, when it comes to pouring out from the ultimate source of love that's poured into us, it doesn't matter if they got your lunch order wrong or that your flight got delayed. It doesn't matter if your sister or your coworker or your best friend lashed out at you. It doesn't matter that you're the most successful person from your graduate class or that everyone knows it. If you believe in Jesus, the God man of love, you are called to this kind of overflowing, sacrificial love. Without the expectation of anything in return in this world, or for anything in life to become easier.
To give love may be difficult at times, but it is definitely worth it.
