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Corinthians 13, the great love chapter, fits exactly in its context in the
letter. Paul has been talking about the unity of the body of Christ, that is,
the church. He has pulled down factions of Corinthians from heights that they
had built themselves up to. “Don’t overestimate yourself,” you can hear him
saying, “Your wisdom, your freedom, your vaunted knowledge—none of it reflects
the real values of God’s kingdom.” Finally, he asserts that true ‘greatness’ is
found in acts of love. In this way, 1 Corinthians is one long spelling-out of
Jesus’ pithy statement, “Whoever would be first among you must make himself the
last.”
In this
setting, it is very important to understand what love is, biblically speaking.
Love is not the feeling of affection that we moderns think of. Greek knows
several kinds of affectionate love, especially that between friends and family
members and the passion of lovers. That’s not what the New Testament writers have
in mind. Instead, love in the New Testament is a voluntary giving away of
oneself. It is a decision, a choice of will, to set someone else’s needs above
one’s own. And in this sense it is the crowning virtue of the Christian faith.
It’s cousins are humility and generosity.
good content. Thanks for sharing
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