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Love So Amazing So Divine
Love So Amazing is an adapted version of the post published on the pages of YouVersion by Nicky And Pippa Gumbel. It is a daily Bible reading passage published by YouVersion Bible broadcasters. This post talks about the 16 characteristics of love.
Read on what Nicky and Pippa say…
I tried following the example of a missionary I once heard about who, each day, would read the four verses from today’s New Testament passage, which lists sixteen characteristics of love. For the word ‘love’ she would substitute her own name. When she reached a characteristic that she knew was not true of her, she had to stop. Her aim was one day, to get through the whole list.
The four verses (1 Corinthians 13:4–7) start with ‘love is patient’. So I substituted my name and started with ‘Nicky is patient’. I do not think it will come as any surprise to those who know me well that I had to stop there!
The great evangelist D.L. Moody was once staying with friends in England. One evening they asked Henry Drummond to expound on a portion of Scripture. After some urging, Henry drew a small New Testament from his pocket, opened it at 1 Corinthians 13, and began to speak on the subject of love. D.L. Moody wrote in response:
‘It seemed to me that I had never heard anything so beautiful. The one great need in our Christian life is love, more love to God and each other. Would that we could all move into that love chapter and live there.’
Love So Amazing – Few Thoughts For The Day (Valentine's Day) #pvariel Share on XWe get an idea of what Drummond must have said that evening in his book, The Greatest Thing in the World. He writes: ‘What is… the supreme good? You have a life before you. Once only you can live it. What is the noblest object of desire, the supreme gift to covet?’ In 1 Corinthians 13 ‘Paul takes us to Christianity at its source; and there we see, “The greatest of these is love.”’
God is love. We deceive ourselves if we think we can love God and hate other people (1 John 4:20). Love should be number one on your spiritual priority list. It should be the main thing in your life. It is, in the words of St Paul, ‘the most excellent way’ (1 Corinthians 12:31).
Psalm 100:1-5
Enjoy God’s love for you
The psalmist exhorts us to ‘Shout for joy to the Lord… Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs (vv.1–2). He tells us to ‘enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name’ (v.4); ‘Enter with the password: “Thank you!”’ (v.4, MSG); ‘Be thankful and say so to Him’ (v.4, AMP).
Why? What is the reason for such joy, thanksgiving, and praise? The psalmist answers in verse 5: ‘For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.’
God is good and he loves you. This pretty much sums up the message of the entire Bible. It is his love that is the source of our love: ‘We love because he first loved us’ (1 John 4:19). Understand, believe, and accept that he loves you and enjoy his love.
Lord, I thank and praise you for your amazing love for me. Thank you that your love endures forever. Help me to enjoy your love today.
1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13
Embrace a life of love
Henry Drummond explains that at the beginning of this chapter, we have love contrasted; in the heart of it, we have love analyzed and towards the end, we have love defended as the supreme gift.
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Love contrasted
The description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is one of the most beautiful and best-known passages in the entire New Testament.
- Many non-churchgoers would recognize it as the Bible passage that is often read at weddings. Paul places it in the middle of his teaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the body of Christ. He lists nine gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:27–30.
- At the start of chapter 12, he also listed nine gifts. There is an overlap of five. So, thirteen gifts of the Holy Spirit are listed in all. Paul has been describing the importance of these gifts for the body of Christ to function fully.
- He is not diminishing the importance of gifts by talking about love. Rather, he is saying, ‘gifts are very important but love is even more important.’ We desperately need the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be properly exercised in the church today.
- However, as in Paul’s day, love is even more important. It is ‘the most excellent way’ (v.31).In fact, Paul says if we have all the gifts and give everything we have to the poor and die the death of a martyr but we have not love, we gain nothing (13:1–3).
- He is not criticizing the use of the gifts, such as speaking in tongues and prophecy (vv.1–2), any more than he is criticizing philanthropists or martyrs (v.3). He is simply stressing the importance that everything you do should be done in love.
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Love analyzed
Paul then lists sixteen characteristics of love. Every time I read this list I feel deeply challenged. I know how far short of all these characteristics – not just the first one! – I so often fall. I like The Message translation:
‘Love never gives up [‘Love is patient’, NIV] Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first”,
Love doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t reveal when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trust God always,
Always look for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end (vv.4–7, MSG).
Take any one of these: for example, ‘Trust God always’. Achieve that and it will be life-changing.
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Love defended
Love is permanent. Everything else is temporary. All the gifts of the Spirit will one day be unnecessary. Some have argued that what Paul is saying here is that the gifts of the Spirit (such as speaking in tongues) would cease at some point in history. In fact, he is saying the very opposite. He is saying that the gifts of the Spirit will not cease until we see Jesus ‘face to face’(v.12). As yet, we do not see Jesus ‘face to face’ and therefore the gifts of the Spirit have not yet ceased. We still need them desperately. But, the greatest thing in the world is love. Faith, hope, and love are a great trilogy, but ‘the greatest of these is love’ (v.13).
Lord, we desperately need this kind of love in the church today. Help me grow in love to reflect the way St Paul describes. May I make my love for you, and for others, the highest priority of my life.
Song of Songs 5:1-8:14
Ensure that love is the main thing
The word ‘love’ or ‘lover’ appears over and over again in the Song of Songs. It is all about romantic love between a lover and his beloved. They are overcome by love for one another. The beloved says that she is ‘heartsick with love for him’ (5:8, MSG).
There is a strong element of physical and erotic love. Both describe the physical beauty of their marriage partner (5:10–16; 6:4–9). As one commentator put it, ‘The Song of Songs is a long, lyric poem about erotic love and sexual desire – a poem in which the body is the object of desire and source of delight, and lovers engage in a continual game of seeking and finding… sexual gratification.’
But their love goes way beyond the physical and the erotic. The beloved says, ‘This is my lover, this is my friend’ (5:16c). There is nothing better in marriage than having someone as your partner, your lover, and your best friend.
In yesterday’s passage, the lover says, ‘You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water’ (4:15). Each human being has a never-ending flow of beautiful and wonderful resources.
As the Song of Songs draws to an end, there is a beautiful description of the never-ending quality of love: ‘Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave’ (8:6). And now, after the resurrection of Jesus, we can say that love is even stronger than death: ‘Love never fails’ (1 Corinthians 13:8).
Again, I like The Message version:
‘The fire of love stops at nothing –
it sweeps everything before it.
Flood waters can’t drown love,
torrents of rain can’t put it out.
Love can’t be bought, love can’t be sold –
it’s not to be found in the marketplace’ (8:6c–7, MSG).
Thank you, Lord, that your love for me is like a fire that stops at nothing. May my love for you be the highest priority in my life. Thank you that your love cannot be bought or earned, but only gratefully and humbly received.
Pippa Adds
1 Corinthians 13:1–7
I need to keep reading these beautiful and challenging words about love. They are poetic and powerful. They need to be read constantly in homes, schools, businesses… everywhere. They should be studied, learned, and practiced at all times.
Verse of the Day
‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs’ (1 Corinthians 13:4–5).
References
Henry Drummond, The Greatest Thing in the World, (Revell, 2011), pp.10,13
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Originally published on YouVersion Bible App And
Courtesy: Text and Image: YouVersion
Published on: Feb 14, 2019 at 12:37
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Thank you for this beautiful article. The idea to read through Corinthians 13:4-7 with ourselves in mind is a wonderful way to improve ourselves. Thank you for the idea; I think I might try it for myself.
This is my first visit here will visit again to read such posts.
Thanks
Kimmy
Thanks for the great article. By the way, I liked the thoughts “Love is in the air” By the way happy season’s greetings to you and all the readers here.
Now I got the definition of Love which my friend asked me once. Thanks for sharing the article.
Thank you for this beautiful article about love so amazing.
Great thoughts you shared, which I am sure are so precious to the readers.
Keep sharing. All the best.
Thank you for this beautiful ❤️ and lovely piece of writing.
Yes, Indeed love is so amazing!
His love for human being are unfathomable.
Thanks for the great share.
May Good Bless.
Hey Philip,
You have very nicely defined about Love, it is patient, kind and sweet etc.
I really gathered a lots of information from your post.
God is mighty and holy so we should have a reverential fear of him, but he also wants his children to enjoy him. God is love.
Thanks for sharing.
With best regards,
Amar Kumar