Podcast: Download
Subscribe RSS
Our church is going through the book of First Corinthians. Last Sunday was chapter thirteen, often called “the love chapter”. Chapter thirteen frequently gets taken out of context. It is commonly used at weddings. Our pastor pointed out that while none of that is invalid when we take the chapter out of context we miss just how strong it is.
Paul didn’t switch from spiritual gifts to love and back because he was getting senile. He was talking to a church that was very proud of its use (or abuse) of the gifts. But they weren’t doing very well on the love thing. Paul said if you do amazing things but don’t have love, nothing you do matters. Love is not secondary or an also ran, it’s the main thing. Love is numero uno, it’s required before anything else.
Of course, this is true in marriage too. You can be an amazing provider, but if you don’t love your wife it’s pointless. You can be the best lover in the world, but if you don’t have love, she won’t care.
Verses four through seven lay out the very high standard of the kind of love God expects us to have:
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. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. [1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV]
How well are you doing on those fifteen things? I’d like to tell you I have a few of them down pat, but I would be lying. I can certainly see growth in most of them, some more than others, but I have a long way to go. Even with my wife, I fall short on a regular basis.
If you want to improve your marriage, consider which of those fifteen your wife would most like you to do better and work on it.
Image Credit: © Kristin | stock.adobe.com
Shop Amazon ♦ Shop to give links page
We’re donation supported Thanks for your help!
This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure for info.
Leave a Reply