25th February 2025

There have been many attempts through the ages at defining what love is. In the 1970 romantic movie, Love Story, the young girl in the story, Jenny, offers her own definition with a line that quickly became a popular catchphrase: ‘love means never having to say you’re sorry.’ Likewise, in typically spirited form, martial artist Bruce Lee envisioned that ‘love is like a friendship caught on fire’.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus offers his own uniquely striking illustration of the very pinnacle of selfless love with the impassioned words: ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13 KJV). Also, in the famous love section of the first Corinthian epistle (1 Cor 13:1-13 NIV), just like his Lord and Saviour, the apostle Paul refrains from offering an idealised definition of the love which is divine, but chooses, instead, to describe, in powerfully poetic phrases, how this love, that has come to us through faith in Christ, actually behaves in spirit-empowered practice (vv.4-7).

After describing the self-sacrificial, self-effacing activity of love, Paul reminds us of the unfailing and timeless nature of love itself (v.8). As temporal creatures, though made in the image of the triune God who spans eternity, we know only too well how fleeting time is, and how constantly changing is the rapidly fading world in which we live (Isaiah 24:4). Even the spiritual gifts that were given to confirm the gospel, edify and sustain the church, have a temporary nature and will one day cease and become redundant (1 Corinthians 13:8).

If our focus is on prophecy, then we need to significantly lift our gaze; if on gifts of the Spirit, we must aim much higher than that; if on head knowledge, we must remind ourselves that it is not some esoteric teaching, but the blessed grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ that should dominate and elevate our thoughts (2 Peter 3:18). Even two of the three remaining graces that Paul identifies (1 Corinthians 13:13), faith and hope, will pass away at Christ’s return, but love will never cease, fail, or fall to the ground.  

If we aim for participation in the love of God revealed in Jesus, then we aim for the highest goal of all and our personal spiritual growth is assured. And Jesus himself guaranteed that, above all things, it is the divine love actively shared that will cause the world to acknowledge and accept the reality of true Christian discipleship (John 13:35).

Local congregation:
Grace Communion Peterborough
Farcet Village Hall                                                    
Main Street
Farcet
Peterborough
PE7 3AN

Meeting time:
Sunday 11.00 am

Local congregational contact:
Richard Dempsey
Email:  richard.dempsey@word-of-lifeLocal church website: GRACE COMMUNION CHURCH PETERBOROUGH – Landing Page

Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church