The Greatest of These Is Love

Dan Doyle

The Apostle John tells us in his First Letter that “God is Love” (1 Jn.4:8). Just three words, but those three simple words reveal God’s unconditional, true nature. If so, what does that mean for us? What are the implications those three words have for us in our daily lives? How are we to respond to this truth made present and real to us in Jesus Christ?

We who believe in Jesus Christ are called by Love to be that love in the world. We are to bear love into the mix and mess of our daily lives, into all the relationships we have: spousal, parental, familial love, our love for our ‘neighbor’, yes, even for our enemy. Charity, after all, is the expression of faith put into action. The love that is God, the love Jesus challenges us to live in the world, is nothing like the love that culture lifts. It is not the ‘love’ expressed in popular love songs, romance novels, or Hollywood films. It is another kind of love altogether. Let’s look at what the Apostle Paul says about it.

We must first look at what he says about us if we do not know and practice this love. He writes: “If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all the mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor.13:1-3). If I use my words eloquently only to serve my own desires, or to get others to fulfill my desires, I am just another noise among a sea of noises in this world. If I use my God-given talents, or my civil, authoritative powers, to advance only my own agenda at the cost of others, I will gain nothing lasting in the end; indeed, I will ultimately be nothing. Nothing good, true, or meaningful can come from such behaviors. Only those skills and talents used in imitation of God’s self-giving love can produce what is truly good and lasting. This love can receive and share the gift of God’s love with humble joy. It can also take on the great costs of suffering, even death, for the greater good and needs of others.

Paul continues to define this love, telling us what it is, what it is not, and how it is expressed and lived out in the world, in our own lives. What is it then? “Love is patient, love is kind” (v. 4). What is it not? “It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing” (vs. 5-6). What does it do? “It rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (vs. 4-7). In essence, Paul gives us a clear picture of the difference between the love consistent with what Augustine called the “City of Man” versus the love associated with the “City of God”. We know which we are to imitate, but we also know that to love this perfectly is not easy; indeed, it cannot be done without a desire and openness to God’s grace.

Those three words, “God is Love”, are not an expression of some vague, abstract idea, nor are they meant to be understood as a mere romantic or poetic metaphor. If they are nothing more than that, what reason would there be for us to believe, or for that matter, to risk anything for love of God, or neighbor? If Jesus Christ did not make that Love evident and effective through his life, his death on the cross, and his resurrection, what is the point of our discipleship, of our trying with all of our faith, hope, and love to imitate the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus in our daily lives now? But for we who believe, when we look at the cross, we can see how much he loved us then. If we in turn love God with our whole hearts, minds, souls, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves in true and humble imitation of Christ, the world will see how God’s love is still real, here and now.

Martin Luther, reflecting on these three words, emphasized that true Christian love does not originate from human effort, external rules, or rituals, but flows naturally from the heart like a spring once that heart has been transformed and regenerated by God’s prior love for us. This essence of God, this Love, is not a cold, abstract high virtue praised by philosophers, but is a “fiery furnace and ardor of love, which fills heaven and earth.” Let us open ourselves to this fiery furnace and ardor of love, and let it overflow from us in loving service to our brothers and sisters, to those who suffer injustices of any kind, and to those who are in need, so that they might come to see this God who is love in action in their own lives. “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 Jn. 4:8).