Love Is the Greatest
‘If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.’ 1 Corinthians 13:1-13(NLT)
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13
I remember when I first met my husband, Matt, at a dinner party. It was something of a blind date, and we both knew that many people had their hopes on us hitting it off—but probably nobody more than the two of us. He and I were a bit older and had been looking for each other for what seemed like a very long time.
So as I sat next to him on the couch, talking and laughing as if we were old friends rather than new and nervous acquaintances, I found myself looking at his big, strong arms and wishing they were wrapped around me. Which might have been a little strange since we had met only minutes before.
I didn’t imagine then how many times those arms would hold me and under what circumstances. Hold me when I was worried sick. Hold me when I couldn’t stop crying. Hold me quietly because it was a warm summer evening and nothing more needed to be said. Hold me because he loves me and that’s where I belong. My favorite place to be.
How about you? Do you enjoy being wrapped tightly in his arms? Then tell him how you feel. Let him know there’s nowhere you’d rather be than in his embrace.
And don’t wait for everything to be just right. Matt and I have had low points in our marriage, but we always know that we’re in this thing together—for better and for worse, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health. That’s what really matters, doesn’t it? That we’re in this together.
Occasionally, remind your husband how incredibly glad you are that you married him. Because love is above all things. And not the sentimental, feel-good kind of love, but the kind of love that puts the other person first. A 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love. The kind that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. This is the powerful, persuasive love that leads to a rich and lasting marriage.
What could you do to remind your husband today how glad you are that you married him?
from Loving Your Husband Well By Lisa Jacobson