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| INSIGHTS FROM SCRIPTURE: Although this is a very common wedding text, the love between two people getting married probably wasn’t at all what Paul had in mind when he wrote it. Paul is writing about agape love and its priority in the life of a church. If we take Paul’s words seriously, most of us would probably have to make significant changes in how we relate to our Christian brothers and sisters. This “more excellent way” on how to treat each other is tough indeed. Bottom line: How do our words and actions within our church express our love, or lack thereof, for each other? Three points need to be made: 1 Everything we do should be based on love. The Corinthian church was having problems with people who were so singlemindedly focused on their spirituality that they were despising brothers and sisters who weren’t at the exact same place they were. Paul calls them to task, saying that all the spirituality in the world and all the right religious activities are meaningless if we can’t figure out how to love each other. In addition, love is also the basis not only for our relationships, but also for our careers and other activities. If what we are doing in our lives and with our lives is not because of love or out of love, we need to take another look at it. 2 Love is something you do, not a feeling you have. Feelings come and go. Love is a cultivated habit. It is something that should be taught, learned and practiced in our congregations. 3 We don’t have the whole picture and we won’t be perfect. As verses 8-13 convey, when we see this life from the other side of the resurrection, we’ll realize that the things we thought were so great were only child’s play compared to what we know now. Exciting aspects of our spiritual lives like prophecy, tongues, and knowledge will end. The one everlasting, eternal element of our faith is love. WORKS CITED: Interpretation Bible Commentary, Romans; by Paul J. Achtemeier; published by Westminster John Knox. |
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