1 Corinthians 13 LUV (Leno Unauthorized Version)
If I can speak words of profound wisdom, if I can inspire people to greatness, and if I can sing with a power that brings heaven to earth, but do not care about people, then I am simply a waste of oxygen and a source of noise pollution.
If I know the Bible from Genesis to Revelation; if I graduate at the top of my class, get recruited by the best companies, and if I use all my knowledge, success, and faith to advance the cause of God; but could care less about what other people are doing, I am a failure.
If I renounce the world with its pride, its materialism, and its depravity, and if I sacrifice my time, my bank account and my career in order to make the world a better place, but do not actually love the people in the world, then I am not a good person at all, no matter how hard I try to look like I am.
Love waits forever and never gives up. It always gives more than it takes without needing to balance the scales. If I truly love I am not threatened by those who get more love than I do. I am ok with who I am and do not need to exaggerate my importance. If I truly love I can hold to my own opinion without putting others down; I can disagree without being disagreeable; and I am happy when someone else receives more honor than me.
If I truly love people I can put up with their irritations without becoming angry; and even when there is good reason to be upset I will quickly get over it. And when someone wrongs me and apologizes, then repeats the pattern over and over again, I will not keep score. And I will always forgive because I too need to be forgiven.
Loving people means I am happy when good things happen to them, even if they don’t deserve them. And I am never glad when bad things happen to anyone, no matter how much they do deserve them. I will never stop giving love, even when anger and hostility are more efficient at controlling people and getting things done. Doing a hateful thing in order to accomplish good is not love. And it does no good in the end anyway.
Love is the one eternal value in the universe. Prophecies have their time and place of importance. But they eventually reach their expiration date. Eloquence and charisma can only go so far. And even knowledge has a limited shelf life. Our most profound insights into the mysteries of time and space remain incomplete. When we stand in the presence of the only One who is complete, what we thought we knew will fade away to nothing.
When I was a child I acted childish. I thought everything was about me and I talked about myself a lot. But as I matured I left my childish ways behind and learned to truly love others; not just myself. But this does not come overnight. The way of love is a growing process and compared to what we will be, our life now is like the reflection in a dirty mirror. It looks similar but rather dim by comparison. But someday we will know the whole story and our love will be complete; because the One who is Love, knows us completely, and will continue to love us forever.
So from now on let us live by faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these—the most valuable principle and the most powerful force in the universe—is love.
