Love Never Fails
It is said that cockroaches will survive to the end of the world. This myth is based on the fact that they can survive more than 10 times the radiation from a nuclear apocalypse than humans can. In our scripture this week (Romans 13:8-10; 1 Corinthians 13:8-13) Paul tells us that there is something that has the cockroach beat as a survivalist. Love is the foundation of all that we can do in obedience to God, and it is the thing that will be with us eternally when everything else passes away and we are with Him. I pray that we will learn the value and the power of love that never fails and guides us in becoming more like Jesus. Amen
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Roman’s 13:8-10) Love is the foundation of obedience to God, and Paul concludes that it is therefore the fulfillment of the Law. As Jesus said (Matt 26: ), all of the Law and Prophets hang on the commandments to love God with all your strength, heart and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. Paul calls love a debt that is never repaid, it is the one debt that always remains outstanding. You can never love enough that you will exhaust the requirement to love both God and others.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. (1 Corinthians 13:8-11) If the world only believed the phrase “love never fails”, it would change the course of history and avoid much hatred and bloodshed. Paul makes the point that love is the only thing that lasts. Everything else will cease to exist or cease to be necessary. Our spiritual gifts like knowledge, speaking in tongues and prophesy are limited because of sin, and will pass away. Just as a child doesn’t know as much as an adult and therefore doesn’t think or act maturely, we are limited in our knowledge and understanding of God now.
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:12-13) Our perception of God is limited now, just as the full breadth and depth of our sight is limited when we look in a mirror (when Paul was writing this, the items used for mirrors were much less accurate in reflecting an image than todays mirrors). But when we get to heaven and are able to see God face to face, we will know Him more fully. Then we won’t need to rely on faith (evidence of things unseen) and we won’t need to hope that He will save us. Paul ends full circle from where He started. The only thing that will still remain after its all over, is the thing that will never fail…. Love.
Love is so powerful that it is the foundation of our obedience to God here on earth and it is the only thing that will remain and endure when we are eternally with God in heaven. God is love and His love for us sent His son to die on a cross to save us. As followers of Christ, we are called to love more. Love God more and love our neighbor more. It is the debt we owe for the gift of salvation we could never repay. There is no act of spiritual piety that we can observe that is more important in our walk with Christ. Love surpasses them all, will outlast them all, and is the greatest of them all. And most of all, Paul was absolutely right…. Love never fails!
Blessings, Rev. Glenn
