Put on love

What is your most favorite passage from Scripture? While a number of readings are dear to me, my all-time favorite is St. Paul's description of Christian love in 1 Corinthians 13. Has anyone else ever offered a more compelling description of love?

In this chapter, Paul wanted to show the believers in Corinth that love is superior to every other gift. Why? Because all the other gifts tongues, prophecy, wisdom, faith, and even the complete self-denial of martyrdom-are worth nothing without love. Without a foundation of love, these gifts risk promoting self-gain and self-aggrandizement. But with love, it's a whole different matter.

This was Paul's key point to the Corinthians two thousand years ago, and it is still the key point for us today. As Christians, we are called-not asked-to love God. It's a command, not an option. Loving God means putting him first over every other love. It means having a single-minded devotion to him. It means obeying his commands. It means pursuing a personal relationship with Jesus. Love is meant to be our highest response to God, who first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Who Is on Your Throne? More than most people, Paul had the opportunity to attract others to himself. He was bright, educated, well-spoken, and capable of outwitting most of the religious leaders of his day. Yet Paul was quick to point out that his talents-as notable as they were-were nothing more than "rubbish" (Galatians 3:5-11). Paul knew that on their own and apart from Jesus, these gifts had the potential to place himself, not Jesus, as the center of attention.

Why was Paul able to be so clear and humble? Because he had an unquenchable desire to love Jesus with his whole heart. When we follow Paul's example and love God wholeheartedly, a kind of divine exchange occurs: We love God, and he turns around and fills us with his love. We try to change our lives to be more like Jesus, and the Holy Spirit gives us divine grace that transforms us beyond our natural abilities. In this exchange, we learn that apart from God, we will be misguided, self-centered, and led to draw people to ourselves.

Brothers and sisters, we cannot fulfill God's command to love others as we love ourselves without his transforming power. His love, welling up in us, fills us with hope that our world can become more loving, more compassionate, and more charitable. It moves us to pray for a deeper sense of community in our parishes and close, intimate relationships with our friends and neighbors. It inspires us to open our eyes to the needs of the poor, the sick, and the maligned.

As you read this month's essays on love and forgiveness, try to keep the key notions from St. Paul's famous chapter on love in mind. Ask Jesus to help you to be more patient, more kind, and more pure (1 Corinthians 13:4). Ask him to help you make your love more protecting, more trusting, and more persevering (13:7). Ask him to show you how your love for others can become a clearer reflection of his love for you (13:12). Ask him to help you bear with other people and forgive as the Lord has forgiven you. Above all, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:13-14). May God bless you.

Your brother in Christ,

Joe Difato

Publisher

(joe@wau.org)

Copyright Word Among Us Nov 2003
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