The legacy of love

Before you read this article, why don’t you spend a moment to read 1 Corinthians 13. 

 

It feels as though, there are a lot of things in this world we can disagree about. We can disagree about politics, how to raise children, the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon, is it a casserole or a hot-dish, or whether Minnesota winters are something to celebrate or simply endure. And that’s just a few.  

 

But there is something we all need, regardless of our age, background, beliefs, or circumstances—love. And just as importantly, we need to know how to give it. 

 

In 1 Corinthians 13, the apostle Paul offers one of the most familiar descriptions of love in the Bible. Maybe the last time you heard it, it was at a wedding. But this passage was not originally written for a wedding ceremony. It was written to a church—a community of people who were struggling to get along, competing for recognition, and having difficulty putting one another first. 

 

Sounds like maybe it has more relevance to today than we originally thought. 

 

Paul begins with a startling reminder: impressive abilities, remarkable knowledge, extraordinary faith, and even generous hearts are great to have. But if we do not have love, we have missed what matters most. 

 

Think about it. We can be right and still be unkind. We can be successful and yet selfish. We can be busy doing good things while still failing to treat people around us with the compassion they deserve. Love is more than a feeling. It is a choice we make in how we treat people. 

 

Maybe you hadn’t thought about this. Love is essential to a good life, not simply an accessory to a good life. We often talk about love as though it were something that happens to us. We fall in love. We feel love. We lose that loving feeling. And while feelings certainly have a place in our relationships, Paul describes love not in terms how how we feel, but in terms of how we live. 

 

Remember these words. Say them aloud: Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy or boast. It is not proud or rude. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. 

 

We do not have to travel far to find opportunities to love; these descriptions are incredibly practical. Love is the patience we offer when someone is taking longer than we think they should. Love is the kindness we show to the cashier who is having a difficult day. Love is the decision to listen rather than interrupt, to encourage rather than criticize, and to forgive rather than bringing up an old mistake for the hundredth time. Love is the everyday decision to treat another person with extraordinary grace:at the breakfast table, in the workplace, at the hardware store, in our conversations with our neighbors… 

 

We cannot control how everyone treats us, but we can choose how we treat others. In this life, we will encounter difficult people. The question is whether we will allow their behavior to determine ours.

 

That choice matters because love has a way of changing the atmosphere around us. If we respond in love, in a tangible way, we point them to the way of Jesus. Jesus called His followers to love our friends and our enemies. Friends, maybe easy, the latter, a more challenging standard. Jesus reminds us that love is not merely a reward we give to people who deserve it. Love is a reflection of the love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness we have received and the kind of people we desire to become.

 

This does not mean love ignores wrongdoing. Genuine love can speak difficult truths, seeks justice, responds when necessary. But it does so with a desire for what is good, rather than to return evil for evil.

 

Love does not require us to agree with everyone. It does call us to remember we are all made in God's image, even when we disagree. And perhaps this is one of our greatest challenges right now. It is easy to love people who think like us, vote like us, worship like us, or share our opinions. The real test comes when we encounter someone who does not.

 

Paul closes this chapter by reminding us that faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love.

 

Why love? Because so many of the things we spend our lives pursuing are temporary. Our accomplishments will eventually be forgotten. Our possessions will belong to someone else. Our positions and recognition will fade. Even the things we work so hard to build will one day pass from our hands.

 

But the love we give leaves a mark. This is the legacy we leave in people, not just for people.

 

This legacy of love shapes our families, our communities, the discouraged, and the lonely. This legacy of love gives hope to those who wonder whether anyone cares, crosses generational divides, bridges differences, and brings people together when almost everything else seems to pull them apart.

 

We may not be able to solve every problem in our community or change every circumstance in our world. But our legacy of love will make a difference in the lives of the people God has placed around us.

 

We can be a little more patient. A little more generous. A little quicker to forgive. A little slower to judge. We can look for the person who needs encouragement and take the time to offer it.

And we can begin today.

 

How can we honor the message of 1 Corinthians 13? Let's not simply admire its beautiful words but put them into practice. What would happen if each of us made it our goal to show a little more love in our homes, our workplaces, our churches, and our neighborhoods?

 

Love is not always easy. It can be inconvenient, costly, and uncomfortable. But it is always worth pursuing. You can start by loving the person in front of you. You do not have to do something extraordinary to make a difference. Paul reminds us, when everything else has passed away, the legacy of love remains. 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that of all the things we could leave behind, there are few things more worthwhile than a living life that helps others know they were loved.