THE LOST ART OF RELATIONSHIP
If I have not love, all I do is for nothing (vv. 1–3)
Paul lists the different gifts of the Spirit as hyperbole to help us understand the extent to which love should be our motivating factor to help others.
- “If we could speak in all the languages of the world and even in the language the angels speak, if we do not do so in love, we are nothing but noise.”
- If we “have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” He says this to communicate the amount and level of understanding one may possess. If you don’t have love, you are nothing.
- You could give all your earthly possessions to the poor and even die by being burned at the stake (a punishment brought upon many Christians during that time of persecution), but if you don’t do it in love, you have gained nothing.
The Greek use of the word “love” here in this chapter specifies a selfless concern for the wellbeing of other people that is not brought on by any attribute of beauty in the person being loved. It is the product of a will to obey God and to love others as we would love ourselves. It is a choice.
It is like Jesus’ love for us as he died on the cross. He loved us by doing it. Jesus said, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:34–35). He chose to love us.
Love described (vv. 4–7)
So often, we see love described as a feeling, an emotion. We hear of song lyrics like, “All I need is love,” “I second that emotion,” “When a man loves a woman,” “I just called to say I love you,” “What’s love got to do with it,” and more. In the movies, love is taught to us as being something that when lost, we cease to need the person who was the recipient of our love. This whole description of love from the world is a distorted view of what God meant for us to understand.
If we were to do a study on servanthood, we would learn that love is not a feeling. As a matter of fact, Jesus said himself in John 15:12–13, “My command is this; Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus wants us to imitate his love for us to other people. This is a selfless love that does not rely on the response of the other person to exist to have an effect.