1If I speak in the tonguesa of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,b but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
This is the love chapter. I flipped here expecting to be challenged to love better, and I was. I found something else here too. I found reassurance that it's okay if I can't love perfectly. It's ok because I am not perfect yet. I always feel like I have to follow every law perfectly, and you know what? That is the expectation. However, God also knows that we are broken sinful people, and that's why He sent Jesus. Jesus came to rescue us from our sin and lead us to a relationship with God. God's grace is sufficient for me and His power is made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). This isn't an excuse to stay stagnant in my weakness, this is a call to rely on God's grace and power. I will never learn to love perfectly, that's impossible. I cannot love perfectly until I am made perfect. I can only love in my brokeness and God takes that and makes it perfect with His power. I can only see a poor reflection, but one day I will see the true reflection. I am in part, but one day I will be whole exactly how God knows me. For right now I love with God's grace. For right now I offer up my brokeness and God sends grace and power.
