All For Love by MOPS InternationalНамуна

DAY 1: Love is a Verb

Love is the most powerful force on the planet, and yet the concept almost seems cliché. We tell somebody we love them, and in the same breath we talk about how much we love a new podcast. Perhaps we've become so accustomed to the word that we've forgotten how revolutionary it is, how God's love changes everything. It is life-altering, curse-lifting and, as shown in Christ's resurrection, quite literally death-conquering. 

Most Christians know 1 Corinthians 13 as the “love” chapter, but to fully understand 1 Corinthians 13, we must start in 1 Corinthians 12. 

Around 54 A.D., the Apostle Paul wrote an eye-opening letter to the church in Corinth. He sent it to address problems in the church and answer questions the church leaders had about hot topics that are still being asked in the church today. Questions like: How do we deal with a sex-obsessed culture? When is divorce justified? How do we address people spreading rumors? 

In chapter 12, the Corinthians were busy comparing their contributions to the church and judging each other’s value based on each other’s gifts. Paul was admonishing the Corinthians that every part of the body is important and emphasizing the need for unity in the church. Paul lists the gifts and encourages believers to give their best. He ends chapter 12 with this: “And I will show you a still more excellent way.”  

Paul introduces his own hot topic for the church: As excellent as the gifts are, love is better. I may develop and use my gift to its fullest and God may still bless someone with my service, but if I don’t love people, the value of my gift is diminished. 

The Hebrew word for “gong” describes metal made of brass or copper mixed with tin – normally shaped into a drum that yields a hollow, echoing noise. The nonbelievers in Corinth were steeped in pagan religions and rituals. The people danced wildly under the influence of drugs and alcohol while pagan priests beat their metal drums louder and faster to increase the frenzy. When Paul compared the unloving spirit to a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal, the Corinthians could relate. They knew exactly what this empty worship sounded like because they heard the clamoring of it all day long.

Paul tells the people of Corinth, and us, that it is possible to be doing all the right things, but if our actions are void of love, those things lose their power. One interesting thing to note is that in the original Greek, most of Paul’s descriptions of love in practice are verbs. The noun “love” is a great word. It feels ethereal and conjures up all the good emotions, but Paul isn’t writing about lofty concepts or how love feels. The kind of love he is describing is not just talk, it is action.

Read I Corinthians 12 and 13.  (Read it aloud. It’s beautiful.) 

Based on what you’ve read in these two chapters, what is the more excellent way?