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LOVE IN PRACTICE (1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-7) (LENT DAY 2)

REFLECTION

“Love in practice” is the theme for our reflection. Paul emphasized the importance of love in Christian fellowship and admonished the Corinthian Church that everything in the Church of Christ must be done in love or motivated by love. The kind of love that must be demonstrated in the Church must be the agape love. It is the unconditional love of Christ demonstrated through His suffering, death and resurrection. This love has no limit and boundaries, it transcends time, space, political, racial, tribal and gender differences, therefore Paul highlighted the principles agape love establishes for peaceful coexistence and development of the Church when he wrote, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Dear friend, the Church was founded on love and without the love of God there is no salvation. It is for this reason that Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). Among all the things in the world, love is the first and most priceless gift God gave to humanity since the time of creation, throughout the history of Israel to the first coming of Christ. This love will subsist until the second coming of Christ. God has always loved us and created the opportunity for us to repent, be saved and be blessed through His covenant relationship with us through Jesus Christ. The Church therefore is an entity of love and was established to minister the love of God to the world through preaching Christ as the Love of God to the world. To this end, the Church has been empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out the mission of Love through the various Spiritual gifts for the edification of the church, empowerment and growth of the body of Christ and the redemption of those who are beyond the walls of salvation.

Love must reign supreme and we must constantly practice love in our relationship with one another. God Himself put love into practice when He first showed us His love, for “…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). Dear friend, if there is something that pleases God the most then it is following the perfect example of Jesus’ love which is needed in every human relationship and endeavour. Paul lays great emphasis on this fact when he wrote “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Lent provides us with the opportunity to demonstrate or practice agape or unconditional love by sharing and caring for one another. In Lent, we become more aware of God’s love, grace and generosity towards us even as we ponder over His Word through fasting and prayers. Let us practice love during this lent season and beyond by being patient, kind, humble, affable and generous to especially the vulnerable and needy in our family, church and society. Let us practice agape love, and all other things needed for our effective discipleship and mission shall be added by the Lord. Shalom.

PRAYER

Almighty God, in a world of bitterness, enviness, unhealthy competition and wickedness may you continually make us agents of Your unconditional love so that through the love of Christ we may continue to transform the world by preaching and living the Gospel of love through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Amen.