Found Truths | And The Greatest Of These Is Love

article by Reverend RB Moore

Once I had the privilege to officiate a wedding in California. After the ceremony, a young couple came up to me and asked where I lived. I answered, “Louisiana.” One of them responded, “We knew it had to be from the South, because during the wedding ceremony you kept saying the word, ‘lu-uv,’ with two syllables.” With this in mind, and with Valentine’s Day being this month, let’s think about what it means to “lu-uv” others. 

      We will focus our attention on 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, which is known as “The Love Chapter.” Let’s “begin with the end in mind.” At the end of the chapter the last verse tells us: When it comes to the spiritual gifts, “the greatest of these is love.” For instance, back in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 the Apostle Paul lists several spiritual gifts that are worthless without love.

      Think about this list in 21st century terms. If you teach a Sunday School class, drive a church bus, give 10% of your income to the ministries of the church, go overseas on a mission trip, stop smoking, stop getting drunk, stop chewing ‘tabacker,’ and quit dipping snuff, but do not have love in your heart, your eternal achievements are zero! Because the spiritual gift of love outweighs all other spiritual gifts.  

      We also see that the love chapter uses positive images to illustrate love. Look at the positive images in 1 Corinthians 13:4, 6-8: “Love is patient; love is kind;” … “rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

      Speaking of kindness, at one church there was a two-story Education Building that overlooked the main parking lot. After the Worship Service one morning, the pastor disappeared and went upstairs to watch folks getting into their cars. He was counting how many husbands opened the car doors for their wives. The number was no more than a handful. 

  The next Sunday morning, during the Mother’s Day sermon, he shared his findings with the congregation. Immediately after the service, boyfriends, fiancés and husbands were opening car doors for the women they loved. In fact, one eligible bachelor dashed to and fro to open car doors for the single women in the church! Be kind to one another. For you know, the greatest gift that we can share with others remains the gift of love.

  But on the other hand, in this passage we also see negative images illustrating what does not equal love. Reading from 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 … “love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing” 

… Let’s look at just one negative example  here. 

Love “does not insist on its own way. Not too many years ago a lady decided it was time to plan her funeral. One of the songs she chose to be played during the service was a secular song from the 1970s called, “Joy to the World.” The pop rock band that made the song popular way back when was named Three Dog Night.   

      Getting back to the phrase, “does not insist on its own way,” the lady planning her own funeral did not insist on having the lyrics sung in a traditional sanctuary. After all, the song is not exactly a Gospel melody. Nor did she insist that the song be played on a few guitars, with drums keeping a steady beat. 

      Instead, she chose to have the song played only on the church organ. For the lady making plans for her funeral, it was an act of love on her part. She was not just thinking about herself. But also, she was thinking about her traditional family members and her traditional friends who may attend the service. 

      For you see, when we are filled with love, we don’t have to always get our own way. Instead, as we are filled with the gift of God’s love, we will naturally share the greatest spiritual gift of all with those we cherish. Thanks be to God. Amen.