Love Is (1st Corinthians 13)

Hey people. I have been a little bit of a backsliding christian recently, you know skipping Bible reading and stuff. I know, I know, pretty serious.

But recently I've picked it back up, and I've had my eyes opened several times. Today was one of those times that didn't just open my eyes, but I got hit smack dab in the middle of the face with a hundred pounds of bricks. I have rarely felt more strongly His presence than I have today, and I felt pretty strongly about writing this. So, here goes...

I may speak in the languages of humans and of angels. But if I don't have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing cymbal.
I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains. But if I don't have love, I am nothing.
I may even give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned. But if I don't have love, none of these things will help me.
Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn't jealous. It doesn't sing its own praises. It isn't arrogant.
It isn't rude. It doesn't think about itself. It isn't irritable. It doesn't keep track of wrongs.
It isn't happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth.
Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up.
Love never comes to an end. There is the gift of speaking what God has revealed, but it will no longer be used. There is the gift of speaking in other languages, but it will stop by itself. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will no longer be used.
But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will no longer be used.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used childish ways.
Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledge as God has complete knowledge of me.
So these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the best one of these is love.

Now, if you are anything like me, you've read this many times. Maybe even a hundred. Each time that I've read it, I've thought about how I treat my parents, how I treat my family, and how I treat Larissa. I would filter the ones that I didn't do as well, and then just praise myself for the ones I did do correctly. While this may have created quite the positive attitude, it did not help teach me anything.

I realized after reading it just now, that I have always ALWAYS divided that up into two separate parts, utilizing the first, and just writing off the second. Well, I am going to try to not do that any longer, because I have missed something so essential and important for way too long!

Pretty much any way you look at it, I have been a complete and utter jerk to my ex-girlfriend. Okay, that's if you look at it the nice way. If I was honest, I would be using a few different words than I am right now, but you get the basic idea. I have been a pretty despicable person, I know that I have. I can always justify how I behave, but when I read this today it hit me like a hundred pounds of bricks, straight in the face, and there is no denying it any longer. I cannot and will not be ok with the status quo—to quote Dr. Horrible, “the status is not quo.”

Let's take a step back
"Alright, so, big deal Joshua", you may be saying. "You have grown into a big boy, congrats."

Nope, stop right there. That's how I looked at life, but I will not any more. Each sermon has something new that I can learn. Each time a person speaks, it's not just white noise, it's important!

Break it Down
Verses 1-3

"I may speak in the languages of humans and of angels. But if I don't have love, I am a loud gong or a clashing cymbal. I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains. But if I don't have love, I am nothing. I may even give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned. But if I don't have love, none of these things will help me. "

Ok, simple enough, right? Nope. Go read it again. Even if you have faith to move mountains, speak non-human languages, give everything that you have and die for your beliefs, it's still counted as nothing. We are a people who are commanded to love. To love without holding back

Verses 4-7

"Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn't jealous. It doesn't sing its own praises. It isn't arrogant.
It isn't rude. It doesn't think about itself. It isn't irritable. It doesn't keep track of wrongs.
It isn't happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth.
Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up."

Read that again. It's not too hard to think of the last time that you were kind or patient—it's easy to find the good in us. Let's instead think about someone who has been bugging you for awhile. Think about your little brother, a friend, a parent, an ex girlfriend, an annoying professor or anyone that has been getting under your skin.

For the curious, each and every single one of those is relevant to me, so do not think that I'm just spewing words, I mean what I say because I'm learning how big of a deal it it. IT IS A HUGE DEAL! Do not just let this slide.

Anyway. Think about that person from before, and ask yourself nine questions:

1. When was the last time you were jealous of or for that person? 
2. When was the last time you were rude to that person? 
3. Irritable? 
4. Have you really, truly forgiven that person? 
5. Have you been kind to that person recently?
6. Have you ever made a decision just to hurt them?
7. Have you twisted their words?
8. Do you hope for that person's best? 
9. Are you committed to not giving up on that person?

If you are anything at all like me, you will find that you have not done very well, on several of these accounts. I know that I haven't. But there is a God who loves you and who has forgiven you, and that is a relief.

Verses 8-10

"Love never comes to an end. There is the gift of speaking what God has revealed, but it will no longer be used. There is the gift of speaking in other languages, but it will stop by itself. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will no longer be used. But when what is complete comes, then what is incomplete will no longer be used."

Lots of interesting stuff in here. If we stop loving a person, did we even love them in the first place? The rest seems straightforward (at least in my interpretation) and appears to reference a love more potent and complete than we can even know or experience now.

Verses 11-12

"When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used childish ways. Now we see a blurred image in a mirror. Then we will see very clearly. Now my knowledge is incomplete. Then I will have complete knowledge as God has complete knowledge of me."

When I was a child. This was not too long ago. I don't consider myself all grown up or mature by any means, but there is no denying that I have been changed. I have felt like I hit near rock bottom before I finally saw what it meant to love. I learned too late, and I hurt lots of people as I've gone through my life. I wish that I could undo the harm that I have done, but I can be comforted by knowing that my God has forgiven me.

I see my life as a blurred image in a mirror. I look and I see fog, but I will be able to look back someday and see this clearly. I have no idea what God is going to make out of this mess that I've made, but I know that he will make this into something that is not dark or scary, but instead a way that I can reach people. God will show us the plan later, when he points to our life and he says "I did that, because of XReason." This will be so comforting, even though it isn't now, I can rest my life in his hands as he guides me through my life. Though it is not easy now, I have to trust that his plan is perfect, and that submission to him will be the greatest decision that I can make.

Verse 13

"So these three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the best one of these is love."

This is not a verse to be taken lightly. Faith is how we believe what we believe. Hope is involved in every aspect of how we live and what we want in life. But the bible says that love is the best. The greatest. I want to be able to love with the unshakable love that Paul described in this chapter.

Conclusion
I am broken, but not hopelessly. I am a mess, but not a failure. I am a child of the king. I am someone that will learn to pick up the pieces and move on. I will learn to love.

God has forgiven me for my wrongs. I have a lot of people that I need to make up with, but I am committed to living a life for the glory of God. I no longer consider my life mine, but just another way to glorify my savior.

Praise his name, the savior of screwed up people!