The Greatest of These is Love

1 Corinthians 13 is so very difficult to do, but it is His greatest Commandment. Matthew 22:37-40 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” I Corinthians 13 expounds upon this: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity (love), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity (love), I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (love), it profiteth me nothing. Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind; charity (love) envieth not; charity (love) vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity(love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love).” (KJV)

I struggle with this daily. People make rude comments, gossip, and do all kinds of things that hurt us. I am guilty of this also. But how do we respond to those things? Do we let anger, bitterness, and wrath consume us? I know I have. Acts 8:22, 23: “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” (KJV) That just opens a door for the devil to creep in and attack us. For many years I have been “in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” It has literally made my life a living hell. I have been through so much trauma and have let bitterness overcome me. Do we want to continue in that bondage?

When people do these things, do we ever stop to consider that there may be an underlying cause? Maybe they are in physical pain or concerned over a situation such as the struggles of a loved one. We don’t always realize we respond rudely to someone when we are struggling with something. Those of us on the receiving end tend to quickly take offense. Sometimes we respond in the same manner and let it eat at us or ruin our day. Yet, if we would practice the love God showed towards us, we would not end up “in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” When someone comes to us gossiping about another person/persons, how do we respond? Do we react with, “Yeah, that is just awful! How could they do that?” Or do we respond with, “Maybe we should take a few minutes and pray for them?” As brothers and sisters, we should choose the latter. Reproaching a brother or sister rudely instead of acting with love is not the answer. Sharing in the gossip is not the answer either. Human nature so easily joins in agreement with the gossip. Yet we ar to deny ourselves and our sinful nature by responding in love to the situation.

I have not had a good relationship with my Mom for most of my life. We are doing better, but I absolutely let bitterness and anger ruin any chances of mending the relationship for a long time. God has been working with me, and I have had to repent and give all the hurt, anger, and bitterness over to God. Have I fully succeeded? No. But let me tell you this: One day my Mom said something that hurt me and I prayed and prayed for God to help me. I gave all my feelings to Him. I had to drive to physical therapy and it was pouring rain. I continued to pray. Next thing I knew, I was filled with peace, joy, and love. It was pouring down rain and the tears of joy were pouring down my face. I said, “Lord, I don’t care if it is pouring down rain and the tears of joy are pouring down my face. Lord, I just want to stay in Your presence and feel this peace. I know you will help me get there safely.” And He did. I shared that testimony to 2 people at physical therapy and was able to minister to them. This is just one instance of submitting to His will. If I would just do this in every situation that arises, there would be so much peace and love in my life.! What joy we each would have if we would just follow His Word and His will!

I want to share something very personal that causes me much pain that I need to turn over to the Lord. My Dad had terrible cancer from Agent Orange. He went through horrible things in Vietnam. He was basically on the front lines as a Seabee. As a result, he hurt my Mom, my brother, and me. I tried to reconcile our relationship, but it was difficult. I let bitterness and anger creep in, especially since he did some of the same things to my children (making promises and not keeping them, not showing up when he said he would). Dad asked me on his last night to stay with him so my stepmom could go home and rest. I chose not to. My stepmom went home anyway. I let my Dad die alone in the hospital without complete reconciliation. This has weighed heavily on me through the years. I let it go, and as our human nature tends to do, I pick it up again. I have been sobbing as I’ve been writing this. Is this what God wants us to do, to keep bitterness and anger in our lives? Please don’t do as I have done.

I pray that I will submit more and more to Him each day. I want His peace and love in me every minute of every day. If we would just obey the first and second commandments along with 1 Corinthians 13, everything else would fall into place, just like a husband and wife seek to make each other happy because they love one another. If we would love God and others as He has asked us to, we would then do all we could to please Him and obey Him. We wouldn’t want to snap at other people, gossip, or do hurtful things to others. I pray that each of us would search our hearts and minds, submit to His will, and love as He has asked us to love. Loving God is the answer!

“The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell; it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child He reconciled, And pardoned from his sin. Oh love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure, The saints’ and angels’ song.” “The Love of God” by Federick Lehman