“Love never ends.”

1 Corinthians 13:8-10

“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.”

Ponder on those three words; “Love never ends.”  When thought is given to those words they take on new meaning, God is love, and the Scriptures are clear, Revelation 1:8 - “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was, and who is to come. The Almighty.”  As we keep contemplating on God we must look at Isaiah 40:28 - “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, He will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom.”  And do not stop considering for we find more help in 1 Chronicles 28:9 - “…for the Lord searches every heart, and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”  As we deliberate on those three words, this Scripture will be of help; Matthew 19:26 - “Jesus looked at them and said. ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”  Love that never ends, and these words are so encouraging; 1 Chronicles 16:34 - “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever.”

Jan and I sat at the breakfast table talking about love, I shared how it seems to me that our world is fixated on fear, and fear sells, in fact, it has become clear that it has become an addiction for many much like coffee and sugar are to me.  But is it not one of the Commandments?  Jesus has spoken clearly on this in John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  And in Matthew 6:34 – “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  And this word from the apostle John from 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts our fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 

We are told to set out minds on certain things, and God would not be good if He required us to do something that was impossible to do, as a follower of Christ begin today to set your mind against the merchants of fear, for the evil one is the instigator of fear.  As a follower of Christ it is good to look at the world through this lens; that car I just bought is passing away, that house I spent so much time and money on is passing away, even time is passing away, but people and God’s Word are eternal, and that is where a follower of Christ through their life should stay.  This quote from Gandhi says volumes, “The enemy is fear.  We think it is hate; but, it is fear.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice