Love Never Fails

1 Corinthians 13 (New International Version)

¹If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I 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. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.  ⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
 ⁸Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. ¹¹When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. ¹²Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
 ¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

One of the things a Christian is told to do, is love one another. Love in this case, is the Greek Agape.

- From Wikipedia -  Agape (Christian theology) the love of God or Christ for mankind. (pronounced /ˈæɡə.piː/ AG-ə-pee;^[1] and sometimes /əˈɡɑː.peɪ/ ə-GAH-pay after the Classical Greek agápē; Modern Greek: αγάπη [aˈɣapi]), also called parental love, is one of several Greek words translated into English as love. Many have thought that this word represents divine, unconditional, self-sacrificing, active, volitional, and thoughtful love. Although the word does not have specific religious connotation, the word has been used by a variety of contemporary and ancient sources, including Biblical authors and Christian authors. Thomas Jay Oord has defined agape as "an intentional response to promote well-being when responding to that which has generated ill-being."^{[citation needed]} In his book, The Pilgrimage, author Paulo Coelho defines it as "the love that consumes," i.e., the highest and purest form of love, one that surpasses all other types of affection. Greek philosophers at the time of Plato and other ancient authors have used forms of the word to denote love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity, in contrast to philia—an affection that could denote either brotherhood or generally non-sexual affection, and eros, an affection of a sexual nature.

Here's the deal. I don't have to like you. I have to Love you. We are, in the flesh, at least, at the core, not so different one from another. Our feelings, needs, passions, lusts, and so on. If I don't love you, because you are what you are, I am disobeying Jesus' command.  I don't have to like what you do, or say, or act, but I have to love you. Love you like one of my children.

Sometimes you might do something to me, that hurts my feelings. Wounds me to the core. But I still have to love you.

It has always astounded me that someone who loves you so much as to marry you, can hate you so bad. You say something, or do something that offends them, and they suddenly hate you, take your money, property, and children, then speak badly of you at every occasion.

Someone like that never did love you. They only loved themselves. Trust me, I am an expert at this, having been a donor and a recipient.

When two people can no longer live together, because they "can't stand the sight of each other," we have to remember agape. And even when we, after much prayer, meditation, and counseling, come to the conclusion that it would be better to live apart, we must not, as Christians, forget to agape one another.

But - (Don't you just love that caveat?) that doesn't mean that we have to be all buddy buddy with each other either. It does mean we have to forgive one another's trespasses. AND, go on an live your life, trying your very best to never wound another person again.

Jesus loves you, and "Love Never Fails.

That's my message today.

Agape
Lee