1John 4;7-12 – Dear friends: let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. And 1Corinthians 13:4-8,13 – Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. As I sit to write this message for the paper, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day or Saint Valentine’s Day. A day of love, affection, roses and chocolates. I wonder if roses and chocolates were available in Jesus’ time, I am very aware that love was definitely available.
It was easy to choose these two scriptures that explain love so very well. In John’s first letter, he provides wonderfully explicit direction that if we want to deal with God the right way, we have to learn to love the right way. If we want to love the right way, we have to deal with God the right way. God and love can’t be separated. Jesus, the Messiah, is the focus: Jesus provides the full and true understanding of God; Jesus shows us the mature working- out of love. In Jesus, God and love are linked accurately, intricately and indissolubly. In 1Corinthians 13, Paul has a unique way of describing how love acts. We are also told that Paul wrote in Greek. In the Greek language, there are four words for what in English is only one word: love, which the Greeks divided into four categories.
Affection is the first rung on the ladder of love. There’s nothing inferior or low about this love, but it involves a simple relationship, a relationship that’s given to us and makes no demands on us. The second word on the ladder is friendship. It springs from the companionship of two people who have an affection for each other, respect each other, and pursue a common interest or goal. Romantic love is on the third rung. This is the love of a man for a woman. In English, this is our most common use of the word. The fourth and final rung on the ladder is charity. This is the love that transcends our humanity. It’s the love of God that we see in the life of Christ. It’s a new kind of love, not known in human experience. The first three loves- affection, friendship, and romance- are human loves. The fourth is divine.
It’s this uniquely Christian love that Paul speaks about in 1Corinthians. Love never dies. May God Bless you with God’s unending love, and may God keep you safe.
Submitted by Mary Anne Grand- layperson from Raymore United Church
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Disclaimer: opinions expressed are those of the writer.
