Into the Fire

Those of us familiar with the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians know it is often referred to as “the love chapter” because the words of the Spirit of Truth written through the apostle Paul define “love” in no uncertain terms. And anyone who reads that definition is dismayed to find he falls unconscionably short of being able to live up to the meaning of that precious word.

So what about “love”? Is there such a thing as “love at first sight”? Would just any one of us lay down his/her life for a friend? Is it love that compels someone to rescue a stranger from an oncoming car only to be killed in the process of saving the other person? The age old question begs, “What is this thing called ‘love’?”

The Word of God gives us the detailed breakdown of what love is, how it is recognized, and what it accomplishes in its fullness. If you can read through the love chapter and not come out of it with head hanging in shame, you must not get it. Love is impossible.

Pure love is what caused a crucified, battered, beaten beyond recognition Christ to ask His Father to forgive them and us for what we’d done to Him even as they jeered and mocked Him. Love for a creation gone mad with hatred, clothed in sin, wanting someone else’s blood to drip in death to prove their prowess and power at killing a man who proclaimed Himself God. A man who’d done no wrong. A man who gave His life but would never stay dead.

I am utterly convinced that without Jesus as our Savior, we are unable to love at all. What many people have without Him is a replica of love. And some don’t even have that. They have this narcissistic relationship with someone who will somewhat adequately supply what they think they need. Left to ourselves without God in us, we are selfish, self-serving, self-centered individuals who are always irrefutably trying to satisfy our flesh. It doesn’t matter whether we do it through a career, philanthropy, marriage, parenthood, duty, or martyrdom—without the Holy Spirit teaching us how to set ourselves aside, we might manage to do or accomplish a few noble things in this life, but in the end, sadly, they won’t matter. Not to God. Because He would’ve looked upon the heart–the miserable condition of selfish motivation and rebellious control of a life unyielded to its creator and unwilling to embrace the provided Savior would be enough to speak of resistance to His saving grace and determine a destination separated from Him.

Love is God, or as the Bible says: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him.” (1 John 4:16 NIV) Without Him, the replica is an imperfect copy of the real thing. It’s a fake. It’s incomplete. It cannot be what it was designed to be.

You think you have this thing called love, but without Jesus, it’s a facsimile. The real wonder of love is that we can attain any part of it at all, but, of course, the only way is through Him. Even then, it’s difficult. Perfection is beyond us on this earth, but one day that love will be our driving force. We will shed these fallen forms for eternal bodies and realize the joys of perfect love in heaven.

In the meantime, love deep through our Lord. Ask for His heart on the matter of love. Ask Him to love through us. Ask for the refining process of His love. Immerse yourself in His never-ending love which holds nothing against you, which always welcomes you, which compares nothing to you, and which is always available to you. What could be better than pure love?

Father, teach me daily how to love like you do. Help me to love more, love more deeply, love without attachment or condition. And let me feel your love in an ever increasing amount. I’m desperate for it. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.