Worth Repeating - June 1, 2017

I Corinthians 13: 4-8 Love is patient, love is kind . . . Love never fails . . .

When it comes to love, feelings rule the day. Emotions guide the ship. Goose bumps call the shots. But should they? Can feelings be trusted? Can a relationship feel right but be wrong?*

Everyone knows that I Corinthians 13 is the Love Chapter. We read it at weddings. It makes us feel good to hear what love is. And that’s our problem – feelings. Love is alive – as long as it makes us feel good. Examine Paul’s words carefully and see what he says about feelings . . . Nothing. Not one word about romance or self-fulfillment, either. 

Paul has a few things to say about what love is but look at what he says about what love is not: 

· It doesn’t envy, boast, delight in evil, or keep record of wrongs 

· It is not proud, rude, self-seeking or easily angered 

· Love never fails 

Think of the worst relationship you have ever had, whether it was with a relative, a friend or a spouse. Without even considering what love is, how could that dysfunctional relationship have been improved – or saved – if both parties had just eliminated the behaviors that love is not? Can you recall which of them caused the most damage in your life? 

Paul’s final word about the things that love is not: it is not a quitter. Relationships fail because people fail to do love when they start failing to feel love. Relationships fail when one party gives up on love, but love never fails.

Our problem isn’t that we don’t know how to love but that we mistake love for an emotion.*