DEVOTION
THE 1ST
LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
DO EVERYTHING IN LOVE
1 Cor 16:13-14
13 Be on your guard; stand
firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
NIV
Now do everything in love. This
is not the brotherly love, nor rather the Agape love demonstrated as a
love feast or benevolent love. This Greek word is the one used to describe the
love of God toward us. This is the same Greek word that Paul uses to describe what
love is early in this letter. Having a benevolent type of love toward others is
something entirely different than just saying, “I love you”. Jesus said that
greater love has no man than to lay his life down for his friends. But then he
was talking about himself and that is how much God loves us, to send Him to lay
down His life for us. Still, it is the same Greek word that Paul uses, that Jesus
used. But how can we lay our life down for our friends? If we lay our life down
for our friends, what benefit is it for them? Certainly, the act of love Jesus demonstrated
by laying down His life for us was of the greatest significance to us. Could this
type of love Paul talks about here be metaphorical? That is by loving, we would
put their needs ahead of our own. In that sense, we may not actually be laying
our life down, but rather aside, at least momentarily. It would seem rather odd
to never pursue our own path, always giving every moment of our time to helping
others pursue their paths because we love them. However, this doing everything
in love could very well go back to Paul’s definition in that love chapter. In
essence, we would do no harm to our friends, our fellow believers, in fact,
even nonbelievers, as in our neighbors, when we are told to love them as ourselves,
or as Jesus loves us. Living life loving others is a Christ-like life. If we say
we want to be like Jesus, what does that mean? Is it that we want the power of
Jesus? Is it that we want the immortality of Jesus? Is it that we want to be perfect
like Jesus? Perhaps the reason we want to be like Jesus, is so that we can love
others as He does. So that we can do everything in love like Jesus did while He
was on earth and continues to do in heaven. Loving others, doing everything in
love, takes self-control, which is one of the fruits of the Spirit. We cannot
do everything in love if we are not in control of our selves. Losing control
leads to all sorts of problems that have nothing to do with love. So let us
make every effort to do everything in love. Living to be beneficial
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