1 Corinthians 13


The Excellence of Love

1 If I speak with the (1) tongues of men and of (2) angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a (3) clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of (4) prophecy, and know all (5) mysteries and all (6) knowledge; and if I have (7) all faith, so as to (8) remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3 And if I (9) give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I (10) surrender my body [1] to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love (11) is patient, love is kind and (12) is not jealous; love does not brag and is not (13) arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it (14) does not seek its own, is not provoked, (15) does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 (16) does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but (17) rejoices with the truth;
7 (18) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of (19) prophecy, they will be done away; if there are (20) tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
9 For we (21) know in part and we prophesy in part;
10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
12 For now we (22) see in a mirror dimly, but then (23) face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also (24) have been fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is (25) love.

I think the above passage is one of the most powerful passages one can find in the Bible. I think about this now because of a conversation I had with a friend I ran into today who just married a girl he had dated for only a few months. Let's just say this friend is almost 33, and well, he basically said that people marry because no one wants to be alone. Is this statement wrong? Is it realism? Pessimism?
Well, what I think is that it is true that no one wants to be alone. I think by nature, we all have a desire to belong. On a deeper level, I think it is the desire to belong close to God, though I believe this occurs mostly on a subconscious level as many people are not even Christian. What I am trying to get across is that everyone has a standard of values. And to a large extent, my non-Christian friends have values that coincide with Christian values as well. When grossly generalized, let's just say I believe that there is a lot of overlap, with individual disagreements.
Anyway, on with my point. Need is universal. On a basic level, we all need food, shelter, etc. On a more spiritual and emotional level, the lack of love and closeness, the feeling of not being accepted, the feeling of being imperfect and ugly (which would, at least in the individual's mind, lessen the chances of other people looking favoringly upon you) drives people to become depressed, self-destructive, and other things. There are people out there who will disagree and say they don't need love and are very independent in nature. They will do other things like join a profession that is regarded as being high socially, or make lots and lots of money! But in the end, I think this is just an other way for the individual to validate one's worth. We ALL need to feel worth something. Some people who don't feel worth much wallow in it.
In all honesty, I can say that I've experienced the full spectrum of emotional intensity. I know it can get much worse or much better. I am not saying I've lived life and know all that there is about feeling. But I can say in terms of my having self-worth, I know there have been times where I haven't felt a lot of self-worth, and others where I do feel good and worth something. I keep babbling, I am startin to lose what I wanted to say in the first place. Let me read what I've written and finish up my post. Oh yeah, well, about my friend who just got married--He told me I was an idealist, and one of the few at my age. I don't believe I am an idealist, but I do have "faith, hope, and love" above all things. Well, maybe I am an idealist, not to say it as an empty term, because the ideal would be to be as close to God as I possibly can be, to walk in his light. I can't do anything without Him. I think if Jesus came down today, July 3, 2003, and preached the things that He stood for, He'd probably be labeled an idealist too. Is it that impractical to believe in salvation and the goodness of Men? It's definitely, definitely hard to save the souls of Men. I do believe there is a lot of corruption. That's why Jesus had to come down to save us. It takes the Son of God to do something like that!! You can pick your side. Which army are you going to fight for? The one fighting for faith, hope, and love? Or the one that accepts the status quo and believes that "that's just how life is" and settle for the way things are, despite the evils? Have we made any social leaps or advancements toward the faith, hope, and love? Yes! Look at the abolishment of slavery! From a purely selfish point of view, what would be the purpose of abolishing slavery? The slaves played a significant role in both the North and the South at the time, while being more important economically for the South. But let's just say from an economic standpoint, it makes no sense to have abolished slavery. But what drove it to happen was that voice inside telling people that it was wrong. And you know, when you ally with God, you will succeed in one way or another. Ah, the good ol' battle between good and evil.
To me, I don't judge people who are not Christians, and I hope they don't judge me. But I do believe that we all go through the same struggles, and I will pray for those who are not Christian and cannot locate strength from any source outside of themselves. We're not supermen and superwomen. We need to carry each other as brothers and sisters in spite of our differences. In my darkest hours, I am comforted by knowing that my weaknesses are not my fault. I am as God made me. And in the greatest moments of my life, the possession of any skill or craft....I know it's not me, but just the grace of God shining through. Because really, in any second, one's looks, talents, and other gifts can be taken away. Stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Disease, multiple sclerosis, car accidents, fires. You name it. Let's say you're beautiful physically. You get in an accident. If your looks were what you centered your self-worth on, you just lost it all in a second. If you're a musician and you've got magic hands, multiple sclerosis will be crippling for your career. Let's look at Jacqueline Dupre. It's so sad to lose such a talent to MS. And throughout the film, Hillary and Jackie, we saw her deal with this disease in her relationship with her husband. "Would you still love me if I didn't play cello?" "You wouldn't be the same if you didn't play cello." So why would God, who supposedly loves you, make you go through these things? Well, I think it's because He wants us to see that we are not alone at all! Ever notice during the worst moments of your life when YOU feel out of of control, you turn to God? Or you turn to something greater than yourself or anyone here on earth. I think the trials we go through are God's way of making us get closer and closer to Him. In His love I believe is where we would all find peace.

Love never fails; but if there are gifts of (19) prophecy, they will be done away; if there are (20) tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

From a practical point of view, marriage can be ideal in God's light, but just not what is OUR ideal, which would be imperfect. It would be shaped by our wants and needs for having an attractive mate who was perfect, we connected with, and would tend to our every need. Well, sorry to burst everyone's bubble's out there, but people are not perfect. You won't find that mate. Does that mean you're settling for less than ideal? Absolutely not! Marriage is about support in times of need. Marriage is about foregiveness. Marriage is about hard work, and helping one another grow in spirit and character. Will I drop the ball in my marriage? I hope not. It's hard. When do you say when in a marriage? I can't answer that, but I do believe people give up too soon. Love is about caring for another person in spite of their flaws and lack of character. The patience to work through the flaws and other problems are critical. If you have the strength to hang on, just like Jesus does for us, then perhaps you will know real love....the goodness of Christ as you walk in His light and do not succumb to temptation, evil, and darkness.