And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing (verse 2).
Love is what Christ most wants us to possess – it is the vital component in both part of the greatest commandment, love for God and love for our neighbour. Love is more important than speaking in tongues, than in knowing everything, than in giving away all we have, even by being martyred. Love is the greatest thing.
Yet how little love we possess! How rarely we are patient, kind, or free of envy and irritability. I know that I am not full with the sort of love that God wishes for me, even if those around me see someone patient and kind. I am still irritable, boasting, and insisting on my own way. Yet God would say that without love, I am nothing and I gain nothing.
Love, Biblical agape love, is not something we can earn. It is a gift, a precious gift from God. We need to value it, to desire it, to pray for a greater and greater measure of it. I cannot manufacture love – my heart is too wicked. But God can give it to me, and as I seek Him, He progressively gives me more and more love, even for those whom it is difficult – even humanly impossible – to love. And I thank and praise Him for that.
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