So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13, ESV
Commonly, we will hear these words at a wedding as we are reminded of love, being patient, kind, and the like. Yet, these words are not written for the purpose of preparing a couple for marriage. They were written for the Church as we are called to be in relationship with one another. With the many struggles we face in the world, the Church is supposed to be a different place, and it truly is. As God claims us, our spirits change. Our thinking will change. This isn’t something that happens for most overnight. Our old ways and desires will fight against the new ways in which our Lord is leading. This is where Paul was leading us in His words. Outside of Christ, we truly cannot know the love that God desires for us to know, but only an imprint that is imperfect and shallow. It is the greatest because it is the greatest reflection of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the Cross. Love is meant to be sacrificial, and it will cause pain, but in the fullness of it, we can find the greatest joy. Christ didn’t die, so we could only hope for the promise, nor did He die so we may cling to the faith, but He died so that we would know the fullness of His love.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen..”