What Will Last

Taken from the Live Like You Are Dying Daily Readings … Week 3; Day 1

“There are three things that will endure – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT)

When time is running out, the main things suddenly become the main things.  The unnecessary falls away.  If you knew you were looking forward to eternity with God, you would want to spend your last days focusing on that which would translate from this life to the next.  When you think of it, the things that last make up a pretty short list.

When asked to name the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it:  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

What an amazing revelation.  There are two things, and only two, we experience now that will carry on into eternity:  our relationship with God, and our relationships with one another – and love is the driving force that holds them together.  That is all.  Love, as the Bible defines it, is truly the greatest thing in the world.  Love is of God, and God is love.  You can’t get any closer to the heart of God.

1 Corinthians 13 defines love for us, and since love is the greatest thing in the world, we should be all over this.  Let’s take a look.

“Love is patient and kind.”  Patience gives people time to change.  It gives them the benefit of the doubt.  When I am impatient with my children, it’s because I am thinking of myself first.  I have my own agenda they are messing up.  This is why kindness is right on the heels of patience: it takes kindness to not act out of your own impatience.  By being kind, I am appreciating the value of those around me, and taking their good into consideration.

“Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.”  All of these ugly things spring from the self.  Love does not take its own needs into account, mainly because it has no needs; it is all about giving.  Love extends outward toward others, never inward toward self, because it is entirely unselfconscious.  It does not “demand its own way.”

“Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.”  This is not allowing others to walk all over you, it is merely saying, “Yes, you wronged me – yes, that hurt – but I am choosing not to hold it against you.  In fact, if you bring it up again, I will not know what you are talking about.”

“[Love] is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.”  Love is impartial and seeks what is right and just for everyone.  Love knows what is right, and does it, even if there is a price to be paid for speaking the truth.  And why not, when you’re living like you were dying anyway?

Finally, “love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance …”  even the ultimate circumstance of death itself.  Forget the Energizer Bunny, love just keeps on going.

Reflection Thoughts –

1.        How much do the characteristics of love you just read about define your relationships?

2.       Which ones are you doing well in and which ones do you need to pay attention to?

3.       Pick one characteristic of love you would like to grow in, then develop a prayer and plan to see more of it in your life.