Without Love

1 Corinthians 13 is often called The Love Chapter. Rightly so! This chapter is all about the need for love—good, right, perfect, godly love. It tells us how necessary it is to our Christian walk, what we are without it, and what exactly love is.

Let’s take the chapter apart, maybe in a new way.

First, let’s notice how many times the word “all” appears in the next group of verses.

If I . . .

            speak with tongues

            have the gift of prophecy

            understand all mysteries

            have all knowledge

            have all faith (the kind that moves mountains)

            give all my goods to feed the poor

            sacrifice my body to be burned

And have not love,

I am . . .

            as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal (noise)

            nothing

            not profiting anything

We can be next to perfect—knowing all the mysteries, and having knowledge and faith, giving all of our goods, and even giving our body to be burned—and, if we don’t have love, we’re a big, fat zero in God’s eyes.

So, what is love?

When I read 1 Corinthians 13, I’m struck by the contrast of what God says are the characteristics of true love and the ideas we have in our heads. We women might have the idea that love is romance—flowers, chocolates, and sweet nothings whispered in our ears. But, true love, God’s love and the kind of love we’re to show to others is something totally different from hearts and flowers. It has substance. It endures. It’s good and kind and patient.

Let’s look at the Bible’s definition of love.

Love is:

            long-suffering

            kind

            not envious

            not prideful

            not puffed up (literally: blown up)

            not misbehaving

            not selfish

            not easily angered

            doesn’t think evil

            doesn’t joy in sin, but joys in the truth

            forbears the faults of others

            trusts

            waits for salvation

            endures all things

            never fails.

Let’s recap. Without love, we are nothing. With love, we have a permanent hope (surety) of salvation and a wonderful joy in our relationships here on earth.

Love is for everyone. It’s not just a boy and girl thing. True biblical love is a relationship with God and a pure relationship with others. Its characteristics are the ones above.

A month ago, my husband was preaching in 1 Thessalonians. It’s interesting that in 1 Thessalonians 1:3 and 5:8, as in 1 Corinthians 13:13, we find the three great fruits of the Spirit listed together—faith, hope, and love.

And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three;

but the greatest of these is charity (love).

1 Corinthians 13:13

The next verse admonishes us, Follow after charity (1 Corinthians 14:1).

Go get it. Get the best thing there is: love.

For, without love, we are nothing.

Do we love God? Do we love others? It’s a good idea to review often the characteristics of true love.

For without God’s love, we aren’t anything.