1 Corinthians chapter 13 is Paul’s great treatise on Love. He makes a very interesting statement in the final verse “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13, NKJV). Isn’t that amazing? Paul states that love is greater than our faith in Jesus, greater than our hope of heaven! But that raises the question: what is love?
The world defines love as accepting everyone, exactly how they are. If you believe that physical intimacy is meant for a married man and women, you hate homosexuals. If you believe that the life of an unborn child is precious, and that the systematic slaughter of unborn children is wrong, you hate women, and any other viewpoint is invalid to the world.
Throughout 1 Corinthians 13, Paul defines biblical love, and in verse 6 he says that love, “does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.” Paul states very plainly a concept that all Christians should understand: love helps others to see the truth, because genuine love wants to see everyone go to heaven.
In a world that believes that this life is all there is, and after death there are no consequences for your actions, it’s easy to see why the worldly definition of love is so widely accepted. But as Christians, it is our job to help others understand what life is about: Serving God, and getting to heaven in the end. Towards the end of the book of James, the brother of Jesus sums up this concept for us very simply:
“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” - James 5:19-20