". . . but have not love, I am nothing."
1 Corinthians 13:2
A pastor made a house call on a senior adult couple. He wanted to check on them and have prayer with them. Their health was failing. They didn't have much, but they had each other. As the pastor sat down to talk with them, he saw their picture framed on a table with these words printed, "I don't love you because I need you. I need you because I love you." The pastor complimented the picture and the words. The elderly husband said, "Those words express how I feel about my wife. We've been married sixty years, and I still need her because I love her." His wife had a sweet smile, responding to those endearing words.
Dr. George Sweeting wrote, "Life minus love means nothing." That's exactly what the apostle Paul expressed when he wrote 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, the great love chapter. Life without love is nothing. We are reminded twice in the fourth chapter of 1 John, that God is love (vss. 8, 16). Life without God is nothing, which is another way to say that life without love is nothing. God doesn't love us because He needs us. He loves us because He wants to express His love. The greatest expression of that love is at the cross of Jesus. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . ." (John 3:16).
Even with fame and fortune, without love, life becomes nothing. God made us for relationships in the bond of love. He wants us to be bonded together with Him through the gift of love (1 Cor. 13:13). He ordained marriage and the family to express the bond of love (Ephesians 5:25-33). He wants us to love everyone. In essence, the real purpose of life is to love and be loved. When life becomes nothing, it's because we have missed the purpose of love.
Prayer: Father, we receive Your great love for us. Teach us to love others as You have loved us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
