by Hugh DeLong<\/p>\n
One of the best synopses of the nature and character of ‘love’ is found in I Corinthians 13. Many preachers, myself included, have found it useful to illustrate what it means for a husband to love his wife. I will continue to do this; however, it is instructive to realize this context is not about marriage but about the relationship of brethren to each other.<\/p>\n
The underlying problem of the Corinthians was simply a lack of true love for each other. This showed up in their prideful mistreatment of each other in I Corinthians 1-4, in their selfish lawsuits against each other, and in their willful demanding of their rights over the endangerment of brethren’s salvation in ch. 8-10. Love does not act that way.<\/p>\n
The greatest commandment: Love God. The second: love your neighbor as yourself. These were not just ‘neighbors’; they were brethren in the Lord. These were heirs together in the grace of life.<\/p>\n
If we cannot love our brethren whom Christ died for, then we do not have the love of God in our heart. Corinth was not the last church that had such major inner struggles. History is littered with countless congregations troubled by such a lack of love for each other. It has shown itself in many ways, but the root problem has remained the same.<\/p>\n
The importance of such love for brethren was stated in the opening of this chapter:<\/p>\n
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing<\/em>” (I Corinthians 13:1-2).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is the commandment Jesus gave: “Love one another<\/em>.” Peter restated it: “Love one another with a pure heart, fervently.<\/em>” John would mention love over 40 times in his 1st letter. In particular, go and reread chapters 3 and 4!<\/p>\n
What does loving one another look like? Now reread I Corinthians 13!<\/p>\n
Are you filled with love, or are you nothing?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Hugh DeLong One of the best synopses of the nature and character of ‘love’ is found in I Corinthians 13. Many preachers, myself included, have found it useful to illustrate what it means for a husband to love his wife. I will continue to do this; however, it is instructive to realize this context…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[728,65],"class_list":["post-97884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-i-corinthians","tag-love"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20826,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-two-homosexuals-truly-love-each-other\/","url_meta":{"origin":97884,"position":0},"title":"Can two homosexuals truly love each other?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was wondering, can you explain loving someone as in I Corinthians 13? My friend I disagree regarding whether homosexuals love each other because the basis of their relationship is sin; there is nothing good about it. They might be nice to each other, get each other things, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2789,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-married-love-different-from-christian-love\/","url_meta":{"origin":97884,"position":1},"title":"Is married love different from Christian love?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is the love between husbands and wives any different from the love fellow Christians have for each other or for non-believers? Answer: Greek has three basic words for love, two of which are used in the Bible: Agape\u00a0is a devoted love. It gives even when it is not returned.\u00a0Agape\u00a0is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9245,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-loving-each-other-at-the-age-of-17-right-or-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":97884,"position":2},"title":"Is loving each other at the age of 17 right or wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is loving each other at the age of 17 right or wrong? Answer: Your question is too vague for me to give you a good answer. You have a love for your parents from the time you are a small child, and that is certainly right. People are quite\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48005,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-by-myself\/","url_meta":{"origin":97884,"position":3},"title":"All By Myself","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Colossians 3:12-17 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Why do I have to go to church? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After all, I can worship God all by myself. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After all, all Christians are priests - I Peter 2:9 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I can read my Bible and I don\u2019t need anyone else - Ephesians 3:3-4 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0D.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33975,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/feeling-wanted-and-needed\/","url_meta":{"origin":97884,"position":4},"title":"Feeling Wanted and Needed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton We were very young (24) when we first started preaching full time or \"living of the gospel\" (I Corinthians 9:7-14). God providentially put us in the right place (Berney Points in Birmingham, AL) for this early training ground. We needed to feel wanted and needed in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/giving-gift-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":88130,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/one-another\/","url_meta":{"origin":97884,"position":5},"title":"One Another","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: Romans 12:9-13 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We are an individualistic society, but we recognize the need to work together to achieve goals. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We form companies to manufacture goods \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We have governments to coordinate society \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are aspects of Christianity that I am responsible for as an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}