1 Cor 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Commentary: There is a hierarchy of values we pursue as lovers of God. We do have faith, we do have hope, and we practice love. When Jesus comes again, we will loosen the hold of hope and faith because they would be realized in Him, and yet we shall continue to love those around us. Those different shaped beings from different planets and unfallen angels and so many other things of life.

Prayer: Again dear Lord Jesus, I do need to ask you to make me better at loving You and others. Amen

Commentary: Biblehub.com gave me these few cross reference verses for our verse 13 above:

1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. / Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Commentary: When we love one another, we show God’s love in action. God loves, and here we are called to love those around us.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, / gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Romans 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

Commentary: It seems that hope is fed by the river of love that comes from our God.

Colossians 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity.

Commentary: When unity is missing in our church life, we need to pray and work on loving each other rather than on praying for unity according to this verse.

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. / By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

Commentary: If this is a new commandment, it seems that for one reason that commandment needed to be added to the other 10. The first ten commandments talk about parameters of our relationships with God and others. Except the fifth commandment they are basically sharing boundaries of our relationships. Now, God is giving us a new commandment that is foundational to all 10, love one another. God already loves us, so he has fulfilled his part. He is calling me to love those around me.

1 John 3:16-18 By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. / If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him? / Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

Ephesians 3:17-19 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, / will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth / of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Commentary: The more we love others for the glory of God, the more we are filled with God from whom this love comes from.

1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Commentary: In this world of instant everything, do we know how to love someone deeply?

We do 90 second devotionals and maybe we offer 90 second love to others!

What does it mean to love someone deeply?

I would suggest, that entails quantity time and quality time. Good listening skills and loving someone the way Jesus did while on this earth.

Romans 13:8-10 Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. / The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” / Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Commentary: Yes, in some circumstances our care for others will be misinterpreted, but in general it would be good. So, we need to persevere in loving those who are around us.

1 John 4:16 And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Commentary: John 15:1-8 talks about us abiding in this love of God. God who made us because He loves us and who sends love juices though the Vine to us as His branches.

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ / This is the first and greatest commandment. / And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ …

Commentary: Three parts are here. Loving God supremely and showing that love towards others as well as loving self. Hence, there is time and love for others as well as for ourselves.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.

Commentary: Love perfects itself as it pushes fear issues out of us. I hear that people raise their voice at others as they feel threatened. Threat is there to perpetuate fear and not love.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

James 2:14-17 What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? / Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. / If one of you tells him, “Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,” but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? …

1 Thessalonians 1:3 and continually recalling before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: O Lord show me whom can I love today practically, not just in words but in action as well. Amen

Peter Caran

Pastor of Cobourg and Harmony Churches