“⁴Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, ⁵does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered …”

This sonnet to love, 1 Corinthians 13, is probably the most frequently read Scriptures at Christian weddings, and thus one of the most well-known biblical passages even among non-Christians. At one level its counterpart in the Old Testament is the Song of Solomon, which extols romantic love, and which some commentators tell us is a pre-figurement of Christ and His love for the church. Yet love as presented by the apostle Paul does not focus on a feeling but on an attitude embodied in action, both interwoven as of one substance. And this is not about marital love, but a universal incarnation of the love of God in and through His image bearers. God made us inherently like Him, and our inability to emulate this God-like love reflects the depravity of the fall. What should come “naturally” now comes with great effort.

None of these fifteen descriptions comes easily, but only through supernatural endowment from a heart set free by Christ and Him crucified. We must remember Him as the central principle of love. We should seek to be patient, because Christ Himself was patient: He could have come down from the cross and judged His accusers and executioners, but He was patient so that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9). His kindness leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4).

Elsewhere, Paul uses the word “jealous” to challenge us to “desire earnestly spiritual gifts” (1 Cor. 14:1). He even says later, “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy…” (2 Cor. 11:2). So when he writes that love “is not jealous,” he refers to a self-centered, self-benefiting kind of desire that disregards others, an ungodly jealousy. Self-desire, which is at the heart of ungodly jealousy, is like a black hole that ultimately falls into itself with an eternal, irresistible gravity. Only a miracle of God can break its hold. Christ exhibited this kind of love that is not jealous for what the world can provide, but jealous for us, that we should not continually stray from God but be brought back to Him.

Love directs our lives toward others rather than ourselves. The person who loves like this has had the black-hole of self-absorption blown apart by the love of God. “We love, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). That is why Paul preaches Christ Jesus and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). That is the singularity of our faith and ability to be like Him.

Lord, thank You for loving me unconditionally. I want to live the crucified life so that I can love others in the same way.