Wednesday, February 12, 2020

"Love never gives up.." - 1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (MSG)


The passage above is from ”the Message” version of Paul’s treatise on love by Eugene Peterson.  It takes a few liberties with the translation but fully communicates the message that Paul was attempting to communicate to the Corinthian Church gathering.  

Love should be what burns within our hearts first and foremost for Christ with all that He has accomplished for us at the cross; He is always our first love.  Then we love others as Christ loves us; notice that I speak of this in the present tense, not in the past tense.  Jesus loves us in the here and now, even though what He accomplished was well over 2,000 years ago on a cross at Calvary.

His sacrifice was efficacious to produce our salvation for everyone for all time, including you and me in this day and age.  The type of love that Paul is referencing in his treatise on love is called agapē love; this is a Greek definition of an aspect of love.   This type of love is first attributed to God’s love expressed through Jesus, good-will or benevolent, deeply affectionate, or endearing.

“For this is how much God loved the world—he gave his one and only unique Son as a gift.  So now everyone who believes in him[b] will never perish but experience everlasting life.”
John 3:16 (TPT)

Agape is the type of love Paul is referring to.  We don’t naturally possess this type of love, for it is first shown through our relationship with Jesus and His love for us, we, in turn, demonstrate that love for others.  Jesus said that “no man has greater love than to lay down his life for his friends,” but even Paul takes this to task and says if we lay our lives down, is not done out of agape love, “I have gotten nowhere.”  It means nothing if we do not respond to others out of agape love as Jesus loves us.

“For the greatest love of all is a love that sacrifices all. And this great love is demonstrated when a person sacrifices his life for his friends.” John 15:13 (TPT)

The Aramaic translation of this verse tells us that the word “friends” goes much deeper than an acquaintance; it is a reference to family or relatives.  In Christ, we are more than friends; we are connected to the family of God.  Paul makes it very clear that without agape love, “no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.”  I love that statement. Paul puts a stake in the heart of all human effort that is done without the agape love of Christ. Even though they are good works, they merit nothing in the Kingdom without the love of Christ.

Love never gives up, and always moves forward.  Sometimes tough love can seem distant from what agape love looks like, but at heart, they are the same.  Tough love still looks for the best in others, even if the other person can’t see God’s best for themselves, we have to see it for them and pray that God’s love will shine through their darkness and bring illumination.

Love puts up with anything; it does this because when we are steeped in God’s love, there is nothing that can derail us, not pride, no doubt, no fear, not anything the enemy throws at us can hinder our love in Christ Jesus. The prevenient love of Christ always goes before us, and we will prevail!

“Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us.”
1 John 4:19 (TPT)

Like I said at the beginning of this post, that “the Message” paraphrase takes a few liberties with the text, but I love the way it takes the commitment of love to new heights and establishes an “other-centered” approach to love.  Even though Jesus loves us completely, we fix our focus on sharing that love with others; the reasoning is clear that as we pour out into others, our God fills us with more.  That is the truth of being in Christ; there is always enough love. 

The words “never look back” are included here in this passage; it is a way of saying live your life with no regrets, be intentional in all that you do.  Allow the love of Christ to permeate everything in your life, not allowing yourself to compartmentalize your faith.  

Have the freedom to be you, and love will seek you out.

Be Blessed;
Stephen Barnett

No comments:

Post a Comment