Loving

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Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 13

Hands-down, this might be my favorite passage in the Bible. I know some people find it cliche or overused or taken out of context, but I sincerely believe that you cannot emphasize love enough in a world like the one we’re living in today. Love is everything, and I think Paul does such an excellent job of reminding us why.

For a bit of context, in case you may not know or remember, Paul wrote this letter to the church in Corinth, because they were hindering their own mission after becoming obsessed with flashy spiritual gifts, acting selfishly, and becoming divided. With this specific part of the letter, Paul seeks to point them back to love, as everything is meaningless without it and engaging in love as an action builds up the church of Christ.

Now having a deeper understanding of why this passage was written, I wanted to emphasize a couple of points Paul made:

Verses 1-3: In spite of anything we do, say, or have, none of it matters without love.

Verses 4-7: Love is an action– a choice we can make. This doesn’t make it an easy choice, but it is a necessary one.

Verses 8-13: Everything in this world will come to an end but love. Love remains and love remembers.

The last thing that I would like to point out is that it is also important to note that this passage extends to all forms of love, not just romantic love. It applies to the love found in friends, in family, in community, and more. In fact, I was actually inspired to write this devotional out of love for my best friend. We had a disagreement that really hurt me, but this passage reminds me exactly why she is my best friend– love. The sheer amount of love that she has shown me and I have shown her could never be erased by a little spat. As cheesy as it sounds, I truly believe love can conquer all.

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