More Than A Feeling: Choosing To Love

“Love is patient, love is kind, is not jealous, does not brag, is not puffed up “ (1 Cor 13.4).

Most of us have heard 1 Corinthians 13 described as the love chapter, and it is all about love. It is probably the most-read Scripture at weddings. While it does pertain to love between husbands and wives, that is not the focus of the love Paul is describing.

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 13 to a church struggling with pride, division, and selfishness. He focused on how believers should love each  other and how love must define all Christian behavior. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself  (Mat. 22:37-39).” However, Jesus added one more command for all Christians, “A new          commandment I give to you, that you love one     another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another “ (John 13:34-35).

In 1 Corinthians 13, we see the blueprint for loving others, both believers and non-believers. In a world that often defines love by feelings,  convenience, or mutual benefit, Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13 provide a radical contrast.

This kind of love, agape love, is not based on what we get, but on what we give. It’s not momentary affection; it’s daily, deliberate action.

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark