A Breath of Fresh Air Shows

                         From the Pastor’s Heart

The High Standard of LOVE

     When you think of the word ”love” and the Bible,
what comes to mind? For me (besides John 3:16), it
is the great love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is
patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is
not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own
way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not
rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things.
     I would like you to try something – something that
may at first seem a little discouraging at first. Read
these verses again, but this time put your name in
place of the word “love.”
“(Your name) is patient and kind; (        ) does not
envy or boast; (     ) is not arrogant or rude. (     )
does not insist on its own way; (     ) is not irritable or
resentful; (     ) does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but
rejoices with the truth. (     ) bears all things, (     )
believes all things, (     ) hopes all things, (     )
endures all things.
     What this exercise does is bring home the
realization that we all fall short of what is required to
be a genuinely loving person. But what it also
should do – what it must do – is bring an acute
awareness of our need for the One who meets this
high standard perfectly.
     The Bible says that “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). And
we see this love expressed in its fullness through
His Son, Jesus Christ. If you read the first three
verses 1 Corinthians 13, you realize that a person
can be very religious – even to the point of self-
sacrifice – and yet the act (or should I say “the
heart”) can be void of genuine love. See for
yourself: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a
clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers,
and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and
if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but
have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have,
and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have
not love, I gain nothing.”
     If you are a genuine Christian, you should long
for the kind of love pictured in verses four through
seven. But also realize that this kind of love is only
possible as Christ Himself lives His life through you
(see Jn 15:5). When you need to love someone who
is unlovable, confess your own inability to love and
ask for His love to work itself out through you (see
Phil 2:13). When you find yourself falling short in any
of the areas described in verses four through
seven, call upon Him who is faithful, even when you
are feeling faithless (see 2 Tim 2:13).
     Now read 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 again, and this time
replace your name with the name that is above every
other name (Phil 2:9).