Today’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Daily Lectionary: Job 32:1-22; John 10:1-21

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Love is all these things. Patient. Kind. All-bearing. It’s almost a little intimidating. Because I’m not these things. I’m out at “patient.” I’m not the embodiment of love. God is love. If I want to see a picture of love, I should start with my Savior instead of with my mirror. When you read this passage, don’t think of the descriptions of love as hurdles to overcome. Replace the word “love” with the word “Jesus” and you’ll be a lot closer to what Paul actually means. Love never ends. That’s not a testament to the power of your relationships or the undying power of a Hallmark movie plot. It’s the Omega. This passage is a description of what God is for you. 

For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son. The love that bears all things bore the Cross for you. This is a love that endures. Even the grave comes undone before this love can pass away. The love that God has for you is our everything. Paul is right: Even if we speak in the tongues of the angels themselves, but have not love, we are nothing but a noisy cymbal, and if we have all the powers of all the prophets, the knowledge of every mystery of the universe, and the faith to move mountains, if that faith is not in Jesus, it does us no good. When we look at ourselves, we see love in the mirror dimly, but to look at Him is to see love face to face. That’s not a call to abandon love for neighbor. It’s not a pass to ignore this text. It’s a joy to know that even what we do in part will pass away before the face of Him who knows us fully and still loves us enough to save us where our works and love for one another cannot. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three. Your faith and hope are not discounted, but only because they are in Jesus, love made flesh to save you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

The King of love my shepherd is, Whose goodness faileth never; I nothing lack if I am His And He is mine forever. (“The King of Love My Shepherd Is” LSB 709, st.1)

-Rev. Harrison Goodman is content executive for Higher Things.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Discover new insights from each line of the Psalms in Engaging the Psalms: A Guide for Reflection and Prayer. Read, repeat, and return to the Lord as you walk through all 150 Psalms. Now available from Concordia Publishing House.