“Love is patient, love is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4) is part of
a teaching from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth, the most sensuous
one. He is not talking of Eros love,
but instead brotherly and agape love.
Anyone who has read the Bible or been at a wedding will probably have
heard these words about love. He is talking about all of our lives and
attitudes. He is talking about how we see and approach things and other people.
Most of us are coming from our own perspectives or selfishness. This is just the
way we are, this side of heaven. As Paul tells us, we see through the glass
darkly. It today’s jargon, we see through rose-colored glasses. What are those
tinted glasses? They are our worldview and slant on everything. He is telling
us that without love you gain and you are nothing. That’s pretty damning. You
are nothing. I believe that God is also telling us more about the “most
excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31).
Paul wants us to know that our lives are about our attitude
and where we put our trust. More importantly, what is at your center? I hope it is your heart. This is where all
your emotions and attributes and gifts and centered and are emitted for the
world to experience. Paul goes on in this well-known passage to tell us that
love is not envious or boasting, rude or self-seeking, easily angered or
keeping a scorecard. Love delights in the truth. Where does truth come from? It
comes from God the Maker of heaven and earth. It does not come from us. You
see,
“God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In
this way love is made complete…perfect love castes out fear…We love because He
first loved us” (1 John 4:17,18). John the Apostle that Jesus loved is
telling all of us that God first loved us. It is only because of His love for
us that we can love. And this love requires us to love Him. Then all our fears
are caste away. You see we, as humans are full of fear. That’s why fear and
fear not appears some 365 times in the New Testament, because we fear. This is
not an essay about all of our fears of life, people, bankruptcy, high places or
whatever. It is a paper on love that can only be gained through God in His Son,
Jesus Christ. He gave His life for us so that we who believe may be forgiven
and live in fearless love. Remember, without His love in us we are
nothing. The Apostle John said it very
clearly in a metaphor.
“’I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in
him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). This long passage of the Father
or Gardener or vine and us who are the branches admonishes us to remain in Him.
This means to abide, live, dwell, and stay plugged into the vine or life or
God. There is no other life-giving source. God tells us that He has loved us,
so we must remain in Him to live and have love. He also says that if we do not,
we are like a dead branch that gets thrown away and burned in the fire. This is
a story in metaphor of life and death in the Vine. It is also an eternal story
of eternal life and living or dying spiritually. If we are spiritually alive we live in Christ
and the light of God in heaven. If we do not we burn in hell outside of the
presence of God forever. The choice is ours. Scripture says in 2 Peter 3:9 that
“The Lord is not slow in keeping
his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance.” God is life giving and wants all to realize
that we cannot live or love without Him. He wants us to confess this and repent
or turnaround and attach to the vine of life. This means that we live for God
and not ourselves. This means that our new center is God or love. Remember that
apart from God we are and can do nothing.