Alive to God to Pursue Love

1 Cor. 14:1

In We Need to Do What We We’re Anointed to Do, the how of the way of love was touched on briefly. This time around let’s address the why for love’s sake.

According to the Bible, love isn’t necessarily just how we feel about an object of affection, but what we do for the benefit of another. In other words, love is preferable action — do what is good for another. We are told to pursue love with help from God (spiritual gifts). Love isn’t a slogan everyone gets behind. True love, Biblical love is this:

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (The Message Translation)

What a stunning vision of love! This isn’t just an ideal, but the reality of God himself. Like some of the Corinthians Paul addresses, if we focus only on the gifts themselves, in our own pursuit we end up generating buzz, but nothing lasting (1 Cor 13:1-3).

We aren’t to seek out gifts to make any thing of ourselves (we aren’t the source of our abilities anyway), but to aid in loving one another. Gifts are for loving your neighbor, an opportunity for Christ-exalting, God-glorifying support. The gifts of God point to God in the way sun rays lead back into the sun. Whatever we do should point to Jesus.

Doing for others in order to reveal more of God is the essence of love, because he is the most valuable reality in the universe. God is love (1 Jn 4:8). Whatever our gifts are, they exist to that end. Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect — pursue love.