Verse 7 is the one which makes my heart swell and my spirit soar. When my life feels at its breaking point, this is the verse to which I cling, because I can easily replace the word 'LOVE' for 'JESUS.'
JESUS never gives up on me.
JESUS never loses faith in me.
JESUS is always hopeful of me.
JESUS endures through every circumstance for me.
This verse gives me strength of spirit to keep moving forward. But what if I were to replace 'LOVE' with my name? Replace it with your name. Does the verse then speak truth?
Charles Spurgeon has quite a few gems to glean from his commentary of 1 Corinthians 13.
"Love does not ask to have an easy life of it: self-love makes that her aim. Love denies herself, sacrifices herself, that she may win victories for God, and hers shall be no tinsel crown."
He also likened the love qualities of verse seven to 'soldiers against evil.'
Evil is such a strong enemy, it comes at us again and again. First, we face evil with patience, for love bears all things. "Let the injury be inflicted, we will forgive it, and not be provoked: even seventy times seven will we bear in silence." If this isn't enough, we battle evil with faith, for love believes all things. We look to God and His promises and we believe them. If this is not enough, we overcome a third time by hope, for love hopes all things. "We rest in expectation that gentleness will win, and that long-suffering will wear out malice, for we look for the ultimate victory of everything that is true and gracious." Finally, we finish the battle with perseverance, for love endures all things. "We abide faithful to our resolve to love, we will not be irritated unto unkindness, we will not be perverted from generous, all-forgiving affection, and so we win the battle by steadfast non-resistance. Yes, brethren, and love conquers on all four sides.... What a brave mode of battle this is! Is not love a man of war? Is it not invincible?"
It's a daily battle to love, isn't it? There are going to be stumbling blocks each and every day; however, we have One who will never give up, never lose faith, will always be hopeful.
He will ALWAYS ENDURE
THROUGH EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE.
He has shown us the way. He has given us reason to hope. He has shown us how to
LOVE the Person Before Me
That we might point others to Him. Just for today, dwell on this:
love (Jesus) is all we need.
How will you LOVE others today?
