True Love, Part 2

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is _____________.
Without referring to the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, how would you complete that phrase?

Many have tried to solve that puzzle, and sometimes their solution seems more puzzling than the question. Sonnets have been written, essays on the emotion and breadth of love - some successful; some utter flops. The point is love is an elusive butterfly, both (it seems) to experience and to describe.

One who succeeded in a marvelous expression concerning love was Jeremy Taylor. He wrote: “Love is the greatest thing that God can give us, for Himself is love; and it is the greatest thing we can give to God, for it will also give ourselves, and carry with it all that is ours. The apostle calls it the bond of perfection; it is the old, the new, and the great commandment, and all the commandments, for it is the fulfilling of the law. It does the work of all the other graces without any instrument, but its own immediate virtue.”
               
Write your own expression of love as you contemplate Paul’s wonderful description in the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians. “Love is...”

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Love - the old, the new, and the great commandment - and all the commandments...