LOVE. Without it, what would life be? Without love, how can we live? Without love life is dark, cold, pointless, hopeless, joyless, and so on. We cannot live life without love. If we do not have love, then we do not have God. If we do not have God, then we do not have anything. Love gives life meaning. Love gives life happiness. Love gives life a future. That is why we have to work on our love. That is why God has told us to love. The answer to life is love. We are saved by God’s love. And we will be saved by our love for God and others.
In the last several posts we’ve looked at what love is as seen in 1 Corinthians 13. We have to learn what love is. We have to live what love is. And we also have to know what love does. Paul tells us what love does in 1 Corinthians 13:7.
LOVE BEARS all things. No matter what comes. Love gives strength. Love is willing to hang in there when things get hard. Love does hard things. When we love there is nothing that will beat us. We need to be willing to hang in and bear with whatever we’re facing. Not giving in. Don’t let go.
LOVE BELIEVES all things. That doesn’t mean love is gullible. It means that love wants to find the best in others. Love wants to be positive. Love wants to overcome the negative. Love is a “glass half full” mentality. We need to look for all that is good and thrive off of it. Don’t dwell on the negative.
LOVE HOPES all things. Love has a future. Love looks forward to what can be and what will be. Love knows that no matter what happens in life there is God’s light at the end of the tunnel. Love doesn’t fret. We need to know that in Christ we have hope. Through Christ we will make it through to a victorious end. Don’t forget it.
LOVE ENDURES all things. Not only does love bear all things, it also never gives up. Love sticks with it. Love keeps fighting even when the fight gets hard. Endurance. Persistence. Diligence. Stamina. It does not weaken. Love is willing to press on when the going gets tough. We need to be steadfast, immovable in the Lord. Having love is what will drive us to never give up. Don’t give up.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:8 that “Love never fails.” Love never ends. Love is eternal. That is why Paul concluded 1 Corinthians 13 by saying that “faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” Faith will be no more when we finally see God in person. Hope will be no more when we are with Jesus. But love, it will be with us forever.
So how are we doing with love? It takes work. It takes effort. It takes understanding. God has given us the understanding through His Word. Now it’s up to us to put forth the effort and do the work of loving. We can do it. So let’s do it. Love.
A Cord of Blue 