From Forward Day by Day
1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
These words are familiar from weddings. Many couples choose this reading because it speaks persistently and eloquently about love. Unfortunately, our idea of love has been corrupted by Hollywood and wider culture. Too often even those of us in church reduce love to a feeling. But there’s nothing feel-good or sentimental about Christ’s love.
The kind of love that sustains long-lasting marriages doesn’t rely on feelings but rather on daily work and on God’s grace. Christian love isn’t easy. If we can sustain all that we do with Christ’s love, we are transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ and so God’s love might transform the world. Christ’s love is demanding, and when we back up to the bits of Paul’s letter before the familiar piece from weddings, we get that. Paul is reminding us that whatever we do, no matter how impressive or dazzling it is, if we do that thing without Christ’s love, it is for nothing. Surely that is a good reminder for us all.
