When my grandmother, who we called Granny, passed away several years ago, my mom and her siblings asked me to speak at her funeral. My mom had shared Granny’s Bible with me, so I began looking through it for any thoughts she had written down or notes that might shine a light on something found in Scripture or in her faith that was particularly meaningful. On the page of her Bible where 1st Corinthians 13 is found, she wrote the simple question, “Can I put my name where ‘love’ is.” It took me only a moment to realize the answer to the question was “yes.” Granny is patient and kind, she does not envy or boast, etc. This was the message I shared in her memory.
The context leading up to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13 shows a church that struggled with unity. Part of this would be the appearance that its members embraced individualistic mindsets bolstered by their perceived strengths, and whether or not they were superior to the strengths of their neighbors’. Paul settled this first by making clear that no spiritual gift is superior to the others. However, the bigger point was made when he pointed to love as the most excellent way (1 Corinthians 12:31).
Paul stated plainly, “If I do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2). There is no greater characteristic of a person faithful to Christ than love. Paul also made the simple point that, “love never ends” (vs. 8). The love of Christ and the love of those of us who follow him is both defining and indefinite. It is who we are and where we are. Love is what we do and where we stand.