Most songs are written about it, we long to experience it and yet so many miss Love because they have a wrong focus and definition. Our culture defines love as something you feel and pursue. We are told that we “fall” in love with someone who makes us feel good about ourselves and when we “fall” out of love we should find someone new.
As Christ-followers, we must get a clear picture of what real Love is- not a counterfeit that never satisfies. Pop culture says we have found love when someone makes us feel special or wanted- they help us get up happy and meet our needs. Basically our world says Love is all about me and what I feel and experience. That makes Love not only self-centered- it also can make Love very selfish. That type of “Love” will destroy marriages, relationships and churches.
The Biblical definition of Love is very different. The Bible says real Love is found in the person of Jesus Christ- and results in a care for others (not a focus on self). So when we experience real Love our focus moves outward to others and their hurts, habits and hang-ups. In 1st Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul sets the record straight with a clear definition and behavioral description of Love. As you read it- ask yourself- is this the love I am experiencing or have I settled for a counterfeit?
Chapter 13
Love Is the Greatest
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. 11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. (NLT)
“Why is Baptism such a big issue for a Christ-Follower”? I have been asked that question many times in over 30 years of ministry. Sometimes- I forget the explain the why of baptism and focus on “just do it”. But, I believe, if we have a big enough “Why” – it changes the whole conversation. Believer’s Baptism means we are publically identifying with Jesus as our Savior- unashamedly! Think about it – it sounds a little strange when an adult gets in a big tub or goes to the ocean and another person says something like- “I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”. That seems awkward and yet it is so powerful. It is a mark of obedience and announcement of new life.
